According to recent studies, 29% of working moms feel guilty hiring a cleaning service to help clean their homes. As much as I’d love to boldly declare how I am not one of those women, I can’t say that’s entirely true.
While I worked in corporate America, I hired a cleaning service on a fairly regular basis. I have to admit though, that there was always that light element of guilt involved with admitting to myself, my husband, and now this whole new third party cleaning company that I could simply could NOT master – in fact, sucked at – the “basic” task of keeping my own house clean. This guilt manifested itself in several different ways. First, I stayed up til all hours of the night before essentially cleaning up for the cleaning people. Like, not just picking up clothes off of the floor…I would do almost a full scrub of areas that were out of control. Then, I’d make sure I was either not home or seemingly inundated with work while they cleaned. After call, imagine the judgment that could ensue from seeing me just sitting around my dirty house! I wasn’t having it!
Since becoming a work at home mom, I hadn’t actually had the chance to hire a cleaning service until a couple of weeks ago – partly because of finances and partly because of the guilt of actually being at home now – but, it had to be done! I tried out this new on-demand, a la carte cleaning service here in Atlanta called WellKept. I was able to book the service online with exactly what I wanted done and they were able to come over right when I needed them.
In true guilty mom fashion, I tried to stay up the night before cleaning up so I wouldn’t appear to be a complete slob. Unfortunately, this time, I wasn’t done in time for the cleaning folks to come over. So there I was attempting to explain to them why my house was so messy – “See, I just got back from out of town…and my husband lets the kids make a mess…then my pet unicorn got out of its stable, and….” One of the ladies stopped me mid-sentence and calmly said to me, “That’s what we’re here for!” That was exactly what I needed to hear to get those guilty thoughts out of my head and was a true reminder to me of why I wanted to hire a cleaning service in the first place…
5 reasons moms should not feel guilty hiring a cleaning service
You already have a lot of jobs…extremely demanding ones
You are legit busy. Regardless of whether you are a stay-at home mom, work-from-home mom, or a mom working outside of the home…You are a mom, cook, nurse, tutor, chauffeur …I could go on and on. If you’re married, count that as another job in itself! The point is that you have a lot you are already doing and probably doing pretty damn well. So the fact that you don’t have time to keep a sparkling clean house is an understatement and extremely understandable.
Everybody needs a team
In every job I’ve had and even in my current business, I’ve learned that an important part of running a successful operation involves having team of people with different strengths that contribute to the success and efficiency of the organization – Accounting, Marketing, IT, etc.
Running your home is no different. Do you feel guilty hiring a plumber, exterminator, lawn care professional? My point exactly.
WellKept sent over a team of 3 people to clean my house, they each divided and conquered and had my home sparkling clean in 4 hours. Meanwhile, I was able to get some blog posts done, sign the kids up for piano lessons, pay a few bills, and plan dinner for the evening! Now, that’s efficient!
It’s important to know how and when to delegate tasks
Just because we probably can do it all doesn’t mean we should. Learning how and when to delegate can save you so much time and most importantly, your sanity!
Sometimes – just sometimes- you just need a little help
While you may not need a full deep cleaning 2x a month, you may just need a few rooms cleaned before company comes over or those times when your schedule gets overwhelmingly busy. One reason I loved WellKept was that the service was all so flexible. They allow you to book your cleanings online for a single room or your entire home. No minimum requirements, long-term commitments or paying for unwanted services. Prices start just $15/room or $60 & up for a home, so it’s definitely an affordable option in your time of need.
You freakin’ deserve it!
There’s no explanation needed here. You work hard. You’re amazing. There’s never a reason to feel guilty about doing something good for yourself. Period!
Are you a mom who feels guilty hiring a cleaning service? Why or why not? Share your comments below!
Disclosure: I was offered a complimentary cleaning service in exchange for my blog post sharing my experience. At this time Wellkept services are only in Atlanta, but plans to expand to other markets in the near future. Here’s a little more information provided by WellKept:
From urban apartments to suburban homes, WellKept offers professional cleaning and flat fees starting at $15 per room. Whole-home cleanings start at $60.
“When booking a cleaning through WellKept, you don’t have to share the square feet of your home or commit to a contract,” said Ralph at WellKept. “Our service is easy, accessible and customizable. If you only want your bathroom cleaned, we can do that for one flat fee. If you need your entire home cleaned, we can do that too. Our customers are in control. Simply confirm what you want cleaned and when. Done and done.”
Home cleanings can be scheduled online or via mobile app, and all cleanings come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. For more information, visit WellKept.com. Follow WellKept on social media at www.Facebook.com/WellKeptHQ, www.Twitter.com/WellKeptATL and https://Instagram.com/WellKeptATL.
I have someone clean my house occasionally and guilt never crossed my mind. I don’;t have time to clean the way I want to, so it just simply wouldn’t get done.
I freakin love ya already…Imagine lots of us moma feel guilty and are made to feel so by others for hiring domestic help. where I grew up its the norm, in Europe its like considered “Snobbish” to have someone come and clean onec a week. As a busy moma and entrepreneur its deserving to have some help wherever you need it so yo can continue t get your awesomeness and message where its needed. Rock on!
Moms should not feel guilty about asking for help or using a cleaning service. You have lots to do, nothing wrong with a little support.
Those prices are extremely reasonable! After I had my second child, I hired 2 people to come clean my house because I just could not keep up. It felt awesome after they left. I am thinking about asking for them to come back as a birthday present from my hubby!
No one should feel guilty about asking for help. People ask for help all the time.
These are definitely some good points. I think I’d probably consider hiring a cleaning service to come by now and then.
Moms should definitely feel guilty for hiring a cleaning service or any assistance. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help or hiring it.
At first I felt guilty about it but my hubby and kids agreed cause we’re so busy with our everyday lives that we neglect the cleanliness of our home.
Exactly, I agree with these reasons. There’s a difference between feeling entitled and needing extra help. Also, if we really can do it, we could have done anyway.
It’s not so bad to ask for help especially when there’s just so much to clean and you can’t find time for it. I don’t mind hiring a cleaning service if I can afford it.
I agree to you, I got a lot of more important tings to do so I’m hiring cleaning services. And besides, I would love to spend more time with my son!
This is what I’m telling to my wife, getting a cleaning service isn’t bad. She always take care of everything in the house plus working at home can be tough so she doesn’t need to be guilty at all.
Yeah, I should never be guilty hiring a cleaning service because I deserved to take some time off. Being a mother is not easy, you got to take care of a lot of things plus, you also need to earn money so you can help your hubby.
I wouldn’t feel guilty at all – I may have in the past, but not now! I’d rather be spending that time doing other things than cleaning 🙂
I would be so happy to have someone come in and clean once a week. Even if it was just for not every day cleaning jobs. Like dusting!
I wouldn’t feel guilty at all if I hired someone to clean my home. I actually don’t mind cleaning though, so I wouldn’t really need to hire anyone. I can see this being a great thing for those that are often very busy though.
Not guilty at all, I’ve thought about doing this for awhile now – it’s more of an option now, but after I get some extra funding. Because being a mom & working in and outside the home. I barely have time to do anything anymore.
I love your excuse, “…then my pet unicorn got out of its stable.” It seems like I’m always making excuses for why my house is so messy when I have visitors. Honestly, though, I just have more important things that need to get done, so cleaning tends to be my last priority. I think I definitely deserve to delegate some of the tasks to a cleaning service. I wouldn’t feel guilty about it at all!
My house is large and I think I need to get help in cleaning it. Thanks for the advice about how you just need som help sometimes. Another thing to note is that when looking for a cleaning company you want to pick one that is licensed.