I have judged women I know, even those I don’t, when I learn they hire a cleaning lady. “Oh, they must have money laying around that they don’t know what to do with,” or, “what’s wrong with them, why can’t they clean their house?” Even, “She’s raised her kids, been there, done that, earned it.”
But I’ve learned a lesson.
Women who hire a cleaning lady and pay her to do something she enjoys, and can make a living at, are smart.
I’m growing.
They aren’t uppity, or wealthy or unable to clean. I suppose they could be those things too, but they are also smart.
I’m getting a little smarter.
I mean, it sounds easy, right? Find a good cleaning lady, schedule them to come, sit back and let them do all the dirty work. It wasn’t.
I asked around for weeks for a referral and finally had a name of someone who was taking new clients.
And then I struggled with the sit back and let her do the dirty work part. And was there ever dirty work to do…curtain rods, door frames, window sills. Things I clean maybe once a year (maybe) are sparkling today. She even pruned a plant (If you know me you know my thumb is black. If it doesn’t cry, I don’t know it needs care).
As she scoured my top floor (a small bathroom and three bedrooms) for three hours, I wandered around my home feeling like a foreigner, thinking, “I should be up there doing that, there’s no reason I can’t.”
And then I had to remind myself to play with my kids, to stop worrying and doing and just be.
Just. Be.
It’s okay to take a break from my to-do-list. It’s ok to let go. That’s why we decided to hire a cleaning lady in the first place. Because I was feeling full to overflowing with opportunity and tasks, and there was very little time to pause, even if only for a moment.
So today, instead of cleaning, I baked cookies with my boy.
What, however small, did you do for yourself today?