You may be scratching your head while you look at the picture above and thinking to yourself “what the heck is this picture of, anyway?”
But since I couldn’t show you how great the house smells, or how nice and shiny the floors are, or how there is no dust anywhere that I could find….I figured these four coasters laid in a decorative way on the table would tell you that we now have some help in the housework department!
This house is big, and open to the outside, and we have two dogs and lots of workers in and out. So, it gets dirty! Both Paul and I like to keep things neat but neither of us is very excited about mopping and cleaning showers and toilets. For some reason, though, until we got through the worst of the construction I was reluctant to find household help. Paul pushed a couple of times and I just said that when it was the right time, we’d know it.
So when our very favorite worker here said that his mother in law was looking for cleaning work we were excited. He is such a hard worker, very honest and intelligent, and unafraid of the challenges of working for people with limited Spanish….so we had a meeting (interview?) last week and offered her the job! She seemed a bit nervous but had a ready smile and I think her son in law will tell her about us and put her at ease.
I had a meeting this morning so Paul got her started and she worked at a relaxed pace for four hours. We were very happy with her work and she said she’d be back Friday. Cross your fingers for us!
I should say that we had a cleaning lady for a while in the US but it was when I had a high-power job and more money than time. Now that we’re not working we have more time, and could do the cleaning ourselves. I do believe though that locals would think you were at best crazy and at worst cheap and selfish if you didn’t get household help in a house this size.
Maybe that’s my justification. But I am happy today with the exchange we made and I hope it continues for a long while.
MexicowithKids
January 8, 2008I completely get that photo!
I could take one of the girls’ beds made, with their stuffed animals all arranged on top. That would be my image!
In fact, I was just thinking about you and whether you had gotten a housecleaner as I swept our house when we returned from our vacation. Our housecleaner was back today, and just walking into the living room made me so happy.
Hope it works out well for you.
cathy
January 9, 2008I was curious did you sign a contract with the housekeeper. I remember that rollybrook advised that because of the employment laws
Really love your blog
wayne
January 13, 2008I sure hope you got yourself a good one like ours and don’t end up like poor La Gringa with her housekeeper horror stories! We do not have a contract with our cleaning lady. She has been working for us for over two years now. Do keep track of when she is there and how much you paid her. You will be glad you did when December rolls around and you have to figure out her bonus!