Time
has taught me that some work - such as hiring house cleaner is worth for money
I like living in a tidy house and I
always keep my house. I especially like a plate of berry apples on the light
yellow table, the smell of the dry bed sheets on clothes line, and a clean
scrub tub.
However, as author Annie Dillard
wrote, the way we go through every day is how we experience life, this time I
was 52 years old and of course, I have spent half of lifetime, I realized I
prefer free time to do other things, such as play with grandchildren or write a
poem.
I said this thing with one friend last
spring, when she suggested that I should hire a cleanser. This may not sound
outrageous to you, but here is Haines, Alaska. Our town is very small. A few
housewives choose to work full-time at the hotel and motel, or in public places
such as banks and libraries. This is a border western town where no household
having servant. No. Not at all. But I work hard, and I read the novels in which
housewives are not too tired, and I want to spend money to find help at home on
Friday afternoon rather than eating out on Friday evening.
My friend encouraged me to post an
advertisement in local online newspaper. She said if it is effective to me, she
can try it. (Obviously I'm not the only one who likes hiking rather than clean
the house).
A woman answered. She noted in her
email that she used to manage and clean the rent houses on vacation. I was a
little panic because of her qualifications. What will happen if she asks too
high price? What will I lose when I see her? We set a meeting the following
evening.
I slept with difficulty and woke up
with a belief that this was a mistake. “I'm not the type of cleaner”, I said to
my big dog. It agreed. But it agreed all the time.
“I am glad to have someone clean up
the mess that I do not want anyone to know”, I said to my daughter JJ. “She
will think we are sleazy when seeing slimy things in the gap between washer and
dryer”.
“Well, then wipe it away”, JJ said.
My husband says he does not mind if
the house is untidy.
“But I can not write books in this
pigsty”, I groaned.
“This is not a pigsty, why don’t you
go to the library?” He replied.
“What will the dogs do without me?” I
asked.
I cleaned like crazy for 2 hours
before the future cleaner visit. I asked my kids to clean their bed, assured
with us that if I hire someone, she will not go to their room or clean their
dishes. “She will help me - she is not your servant”.
When an orange VW Bug drove to my
house, I went out to greet the driver. She looked around the yard and the house
and said it is “cute”. My heart swells.
It's helpful to talk with her British accent.
She told me that she is an “old
fashioned” person about cleaning products. She likes simple soap and non-toxic
brush, she needed a cloth, and declared that cleasing need “efforts”.
I explained that I could keep the
house tidy, but I hope she would do the spring cleaning chores as arranging
pantries, cleaning the tub and wiping the furnitures. She said she love to. I
probably hugged and kissed her if I'm a person who likes hugging, or if she
does. Instead of this, two of us were nodding our head. We seem to be
compatible.
If you imagine a big butt maid, with
gray hair like Mary Poppins, then you go too far from the truth. Ali is a
willowy young artist who are saving money to buy a ceramic stove. She is the
kind of person who accidentally has genes like cleaning with freedom clothes
style. She gave me a list of tools that she wanted me to store and I promised
to have them in the bucket when she arrived the next Friday afternoon. We
agreed flexibility. She would come once/week, mostly Friday, within 3 or 4
hours.
I always think that housework is
artistic than scientific, so the loose arrangement will suit us as well as her.
If she feels like handle the refrigerator on a rainy day, she will do that. If
it’s sunny and warm, she would open the window and pump the sofa mattress. She
usually surprised me. I opened the linen cabinet and noticed she had arranged
it neatly.
I did not mind that she opened the
windows and mattresses and blankets, towels and toilet paper rolled down on her
head, or she chose to handle that mess without asking me or telling me after. I
appreciated everything she did that I did not like to do, and did not judge me
uncomfortably of my shortcomings.
I was familiar with Ali then she left
to visit her friend in zone 48 for 1 or 2 months. I tried to hide my
disappointment when she said she could stay there if she would found a suitable
job. I knew I could not do much for her. I can not justify for hiring her for
more than a few hours/week. The truth is, I can take good care of my house. I
just do not want.
6 weeks later, she emailed to me from
Oregon and asked if she could do her old job. I answered “Yes” - because the
benefit of having Ali at my home for a few hours/week was bigger than the total
number of work that she completed in that time. Surely, the lockers would be
neater, but mostly my mind was free. I knew the helping is coming, so I was not
bothered. I even stopped cleaning before she came. Preferably, I knew the
spring cleaning will be completed - it just might take a year.
