We have to clean-up - the cleaners are coming!

This year for my birthday, I received a wonderful gift - cleaning service. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I actually remember saying to my husband that I was looking forward to being home all of the time so I could actually keep up with the housework. Ha! Wow, was I naive. It would seem that spending all day at home, it wouldn't be too hard to keep the house in order. But of course, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Maintaining a household with young children is VERY hard. I especially felt this after my son was born. He was a terrible sleeper and naps were non-existent unless they took place in my arms. I didn't have a single moment for anything but taking care of my kids. And even that was difficult to do successfully.

I called a local cleaning agency and they came over to give me a quote. They had a minimum of 10 visits and I signed up for bi-monthly service. Funny side note: They advertised their cleaning every two weeks as bi-weekly service. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that would mean twice weekly cleaning, right? Anyway, the service has been a much needed break from cleaning. I can (try) to keep up with picking up the house, laundry and dishes and not worry about things like cleaning the shower.

There is one thing about having a cleaning service that I maybe wasn't prepared for. You have to clean the house before the cleaners come. I don't want even the cleaners to know the true state of our house. So every second Wednesday, I make an announcement, "We have to clean the house! The cleaners are coming!" All the toys on the living room floor are picked up. The dirty clothes are moved to the laundry room. The dishes in the sink are put in the dishwasher. The wet diaper on the bathroom floor is thrown away. The breakfast dishes are finally moved from the table. Toiletries are thrown in drawers. Cups are collected from throughout the house. We make it appear as though we actually know how to pick up after ourselves. And when the cleaners leave, the house looks spotless. And that lasts about 5 minutes until we resume our daily life. Oh well, a perfect house is something I gave up on with the birth of my first child.