Or for the cleaning guy? I used to call it “the cleaner” in English and an American friend told me it sounds like a mafia hit man (or hit person?) Ok, enough of the political correctness stuff and on to the question at hand.
My cleaning lady is here right now. Before she arrived, I spent about an hour tidying up the house, getting the laundry out of the way, putting clothes back in their place and washing the dishes.
IsraeliDad hates when I do that. He says he can’t see the point in cleaning when we’re paying another person to do just that. My excuse is that everybody else does it. It’s the standard in the home-cleaning market. I think. And between me and you, you can’t have another person walk into your home when it’s in a total mess.
So, this morning, I tweeted about this and looks like my hunch was right – women think you have to “prepare” the house for the cleaning person while men just “don’t get it”, as someone said. Someone mentioned it may be “a Jewish thing”.
So, how about you? do you clean up for the cleaning person? Is this really a man/woman thing or a national trait?
Oh and could you please leave your comment here - rather than on Buzz, facebook, Twitter… did I leave someplace out? I have this feeling lately like comments are getting scattered all over the place!
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 5:38 am
The rationale is that you don’t want your cleaner focusing on your dishes and laundry that will continue to pile up after she leaves when you can have her focus on the rarely-attended-to-though-desperately-needing-attention housework, like: toilets, sinks, floors, dusting, windows, etc. Men will never understand us.
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 7:43 am
All I have to say to this subject – I am my own cleaning lady. So in a way yes, I am cleaning for the cleaning lady.
But even if I had a cleaning person to tidy after me, I would never have her mess with my laundry or with stacks of dirty dishes. This wouldn’t feel right for me. It’s too personal I guess. I also tidy my bed in a hotel room and kind of clean the bathroom…
IsraeliMom Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:52 pm
I never bother with making the bed in a hotel room – no way I’d ever get it as well as the maid!
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
YES!! I am always embarrassed for her to see how messy the house is. I don’t have help often, but when I do, I wash the dishes, change the garbage, make the kids make their beds and I sweep. It’s ridiculous.
HSaboMilner´s last blog ..Men and Jewellery
IsraeliMom Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
You’re much worse than I am
I have to tell IsraeliDad I’m not half as bad as he thinks.
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
We clean for our cleaning lady because there are certain papers, documents and belongings we don’t want her touching (to avoid misplacement issues later). I don’t think it’s a Jewish thing by any means, my friend, whose mother is from Spain cleans up before the cleaning service gets there because she wants her to focus on certain things that she can’t handle, rather than wasting time on the things she could easily do.
IsraeliMom Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 2:08 am
Good point. We just keep her out of the office room altogether – we take care of that room on our own.
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 3:27 pm
The ONE and only time I ever hired a cleaning service was during my 4 years ago during my last pregnancy.
I was supposed to be on bedrest at home.
However, I was TOTALLY tidying up before the cleaning crew arrived!
Momisodes´s last blog ..Pennies from heaven
IsraeliMom Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 2:09 am
Good to see you here – thank you for stopping by and commenting!
Was a bit embarrassing but I knew it was making her feel good.
I was on bedrest during both pregnancies, and my MIL took advantage of the fact, came over and tidied up and cleaned the place
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Oh most def clean before she comes…had my first cleaner do my bidding in January this year (back failing miserably).
First round was to be windows, blinds and bathrooms. Had hubby move furniture from in front of windows, empty trash from baths and I washed all the bath rugs.
Then I made sure the rest of the house was tidied up: dusted, vaccumed, did dishes.
One way to get my house clean all over is to have a cleaner come for another task all together.
How could I let her see how filthy it really gets!
Lisa´s last blog ..Who Says You Can’t Have a Day Off?
IsraeliMom Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 2:11 am
This could be a great idea for a new service. You call and they send you this stern cleaning lady just so you get around to clean your house. All she would do is inspect the premises
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 4:05 pm
My Hubby has trained me to NOT clean for the cleaning lady. His rationale is that I work for a living, and the cleaning lady works for her money. Leave it to her. This is not to say that there are certain chores that I will do instead of making her do them.
on Feb 23rd, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Never had a cleaning service, but if I did I don’t think I would clean for them. Like Jax I would put away stuff that I didn’t want them messing with, but that isn’t the same thing. Yaffa makes a good point about having them focus on certain areas if it’s a limited time frame, but I’d just tell them the stuff I wanted done.
on Feb 24th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
The short answer is yes. Here’s the thing, cleaning people usually do not move things so if you left the laundry in a basket on the floor they would more then likely vacuum around it.
So I totally get why you ‘clean’ before the cleaning people arrive.
Jenn´s last blog ..Move Over Snowmageddon
on Feb 24th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
O my God I do that also cleaning and put every in it’s place before the cleaning lady come.not only that even in hotels I try to make the room tidier just before the time of the room services start .
on Feb 24th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I do clean for the cleaning lady but she happens to be me. I wish I had a cleaning lady or man for that matter but since I work from home it seems a bit too much. And really I wouldn’t want someone poking around the house, and my things while I was working.
Jen´s last blog ..How To Text Message Properly
on Mar 10th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
I just discovered your blog. Looks like very interesting reading….
As for the question at hand. Of course I clean for the cleaning lady!! For two main reasons. First, our house is often a real mess. The cleaning lady can’t get anything done if the sink is so full of dishes she can’t put a pail in there, or the living room so full of clutter she can’t mop. I figure her job is to CLEAN, not arrange our clutter.
Second, I think a cleaning lady measures your expectations by how well-maintained your home is. If she arrives and the place is a disaster, every single week, well she probably thinks you’ll be satisfied with ‘kinda clean’ and won’t demand ‘spotless’.
And I guess there’s a third reason…..I am just embarrassed to have another adult come in and see how we usually live. You know, appearances and all.
I don’t think it’s a Jewish thing at all. It’s just practical (OK, and also maybe psychological, a fear you will be judged badly).
Shira´s last blog ..It’s a Dog’s Life
IsraeliMom Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 2:26 am
Thanks for visiting and leaving your comment. Those are some great insights there. In Hebrew, we don’t call them “cleaning ladies”. The Hebrew title would be translated literally as “helper”. I’ve had ones that were awesome at tidying up to the point of doing our wardrobes for us. The current one is more cleaning oriented though.
on Mar 11th, 2010 at 2:21 am
I’m more amused how the name “cleaning lady” has stuck around over the years….