My mother was a homemaker in the truest sense of the word. And that included making sure our home was clean and inviting. She had meticulous standards for keeping house which she taught me--and my seven sisters who were all quite a bit older than I was. Though I wasn't particularly fond of doing the housework, I loved the way everything looked when the jobs were finished. That was good incentive to practice the care she demonstrated when I got my own home and family.
I had a half dozen kids. So, eight sets of feet and hands could make a lot of mess. It was just natural to vacuum and dust every day, as well as do the basic sweeping, pickup, dishes, bathrooms, etc. that were generated from living life. Of course, as the kids got old enough, they all had responsibilities that helped make our home as clean and inviting as my childhood home.
As time went on and they left for their own lives and their own homes, I was gratified that my children also felt comfortable making sure their surroundings were well-cared for.
Then...they were gone. And it was just my husband and I living in the house. We didn't make much of a mess, but I was still particular about making sure everything was at least kind of pristinely cared for. I was gone a lot of the time with my work as a flight attendant for United Airlines, however, I liked cleaning everything before I left for an assignment. I would stand at the door as I walked out to go to the airport and think how welcome the house would feel when I got home again.
The years slipped by. I started to feel older and the prospect of getting down on my knees to mop the kitchen floor was no longer appealing. Nor was the effort it took to wrangle the vacuum because that motion exacerbated my ailing shoulder. In spite of still wanting that feeling of looking at a clean house and breathing a wonderful sigh of relief that everything was inviting, housecleaning was getting more and more challenging for me. That was when I started looking into having some kind of cleaning service help me out. I reasoned that I certainly "deserved" that much. Plus, I was still working, so a little help here and there was doable.
At the time there were plenty of flyers out there for franchised maid services--some with incentive coupons. I tried several. But there was always some degree of lackluster performance.
Like one time, I requested that they clean my farm-house style slatted blinds. What the cleaner did was put each slat against the window and wipe it with some sort of solution. What a shocker that the WINDOW itself had rows of horizontal streaks left from that method of cleaning! That must have been completely acceptable to the cleaner. She left it like that!
Another time I asked for specific items to be taken care of and paid the quoted fee for the job. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy when the cleaner requested almost half again as much more money--after she was completely finished. She said it "took too long".
Those experiences reminded me of some scenarios I read about in Stud Terkel's famous book WORKING, which I read in the 70's. The housecleaners weren't particularly keen on doing a job the way their employers wanted--because the employers weren't willing to get down on their own hands and knees and scrub the way their wanted their houses to be cleaned!
After those less than satisfactory cleaning jobs, I learned from a friend that a young woman in our congregation had started a housecleaning service. I jumped at the prospect that someone I knew might agree to help me with my housework now and then--the heavy stuff which I was having more and more difficulty taking care of.
Having Amy come to clean now and then was about the best thing that I chose to do to help myself. When it came to cleaning the house and having it look as if someone cared as much as I did to do the job right and make sure everything was cleaned properly, Amy has been my go-to person. The outcome has always produced that "welcome home" feeling when I walk through the door after she has been here!
Plus, there have been other perks like the extras and the little gifts her young daughter has gifted me. One was a tiny elephant figurine for my special collection. Another was a miniature lighted blown glass Nativity to add to my lovely Christmas collection. I love to admire those, too.
But today--Amy outdid herself!
I have had company almost non-stop for the past several weeks. All welcome, but all those people also generated a lot of tramped down carpet, spills on the floors, fingerprints on every inch of wood, bathrooms that needed to be scrubbed, and a lot of other details I haven't gotten around to taking care of for a variety of reasons. When I contacted her, I was so grateful Amy could fit me into her schedule.
The list for today's housecleaning was vacuum the carpet, scrub two bathrooms. and shine up my glassed-in shower. But when she came....she also polished my kitchen and bathroom cabinets, vacuumed the whole house including the throw rugs AND THE FURNITURE, cleaned all the counter tops in the kitchen, wiped out the microwave, and as a loving gesture, cleaned my big, big bathtub--in case I needed a soak! But the best part was that my husband thought I had the carpets cleaned. No. Amy got rid of the nasty stain on the carpet, too!. That alone changed the whole look of the house back to "cared-for".
After all my company, Amy could see what a mess everything was--the details that I hadn't been able to get taken care of like I normally do before she comes now and then to perform her housecleaning magic.
Today, she gave me the "step-up" I couldn't do for myself at this point in time! And how grateful I am for that. I walked into the house after my volunteer assignment, and it felt soooo good and clean and welcoming. IT WAS ABOVE AND BEYOND!
Thank you, Amy!
I don't do Facebook, and she doesn't have a website. But,I wanted to let SOMEONE know how much I appreciate Amy's cheerful attitude, willingness to work, and the great housecleaning talent she has to make so many homes shine and sparkle under her caring touch. My mother would have recognized such meticulous standards and approved everything Amy does!
You can call her Mrs. Clean!
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