Do you have a housekeeper?

Talk about this week's poll!

For years, I did all the cleaning myself. Then my husband started helping (lucky, i know!) But after our daughter was born it just got too much with work, trying to find time for her, taking care of things at home - I broke down and we got a cleaning person for 1x month. We do clean in between, but it's tremendously helpful to have someone come and do a major clean regularly. I find that the extra money is worth the few extra hours we get to spend as a family.

We recently moved and the other day I saw a cleaning company go to the house next door. I remembered what Gwen wrote about in her blog (sharing the same service provider with your neighbor to reduce the overall cost) and I'm happy to report that it worked - we got $10 off for using the same company.

I wish I had a cleaning person, even if it was someone to come in once a month to properly scrub all of the floors. Unfortunately it is a luxury I can't afford right now. I have a feeling that once I am able to afford it there won't be any children bouncing around the house and getting the floors dirty anymore.

Now that my daughter has started daycare and is not home with a nanny all day, the house is MUCH cleaner so we need help less and less!

We don't have a housekeeper, but I've considered it. I like Nataly's idea of having someone once a month for major cleaning. My hang-up is that I just don't know if I want a stranger in my house. Do you give them a key and let them clean while your at work?

My children are home all day, every day this summer; if ever I wanted a cleaning service, this would be the time. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, what I say, or the kinds of polite notes I leave for them each day, they find a way to mess up the whole house. I'm thinking very strongly of assigning chores that aren't paid. It would be a little like having a cleaning service;a really bad but really inexpensive cleaning service.

Our home is not large and both of us work in it all day long. Right now, we manage the cleaning and housework on our own. My husband has always taken a full share of the responsibility for the house and sometimes we just suck it up and live with dirt a little longer than we might like.

My son is 4 1/2 and he does chores and helps on his end. He is responsible for picking up all his toys at the end of the day, every day. He helps take down the garbage, recycling and compost weekly. He sorts and helps put the laundry in the machines. He dusts weekly for us. Sounds like a lot, but each job is about 10 minutes and he feels really good about being involved and we can clean and be together at the same time, so it's not time away from the family.

We have a cleaning woman once a week. But I should also say that we live in the rural midwest, so she doesn't charge us very much- in fact, I feel guilty about how little we pay her and always try to pad her checks.

I think she misunderstood when we told her that my husband was gone for six weeks, though, because I haven't seen her for two, and managed to break my vacuum belt and not have time to fix it.

I need to get a hold of her fast!

Having her come once a week keeps all of us sane. But I would settle for whatever I could get.

Yep. I have a housekeeper 2x/week. We have twin 1 year olds, 2 large dogs, I work full time and so does my husband. We entertain often on weekends, and my husband is also a germophobe and a neat-freak. This was the only way to keep the doghair in check *and* avoid the arguments.

We always say, "Thank goodness for the housekeeper." She is a critical component of our marital (and my personal) sanity.

Yeah - Momma and Dada! We have our little routine down pat these days. Dada and I split the household chores in the evenings after dinner while Elliott helps. He's getting to be such a good helper, and he loves it, thank goodness!

Yup. I have one and I LOVE HER! She comes on an as-needed basis which is WONDERFUL because I am too cheap to pay for one to come out each week. Besides, I don't actually MIND cleaning. I just don't have time for some of the deep cleaning that needs to take place.

She is a family friend though. I'm not sure I would want a stranger coming into my house to clean when I'm not home.

Yes. She comes twice a week. My husband would like her to come more often, but I can't bear the idea of losing my Quiet Time. Our housekeeper has been with his extended family for about 40 years and we spend entirely too much time drinking tea and gossiping.

Cleaning day is Redemption Day as far as I am concerned.

Yes, it was the best decision we recently made. It takes the pressure off both my husband and myself, so we can focus on our daughter and each other when we are home together. We never had a large enough chunk of time to even get the entire house cleaned at one time! It was an eternal struggle.

If you know a woman that is undergoing treatment for cancer. let them know that there is help for them. go to URL FREE CLEANINGS!!!

In my business I am a partner with the organization and love to pass it on. what would happen if each person did this?

If you pass this on to friends and family a lot of woman could get help while going through their treatment.

You know how hard it is to keep up with cleaning being healthy "thank you God" just think about how hard it is while undergoing treatment. be one of those to pass it on.

No housekeeper, no nanny, no ... I think it would be sssoooo much easier if I had a housekeeper, but it doesnt fit into our budget.