Sparkle And Shine

Maybe you’re thinking about having a wardrobe clear out or maybe you are flinging open the windows to air out the house.  Or maybe you are just going to have a good old, on your hands and knees clean!

I love the way my cleaning lady always manages to find something in the house that is “veh-eey dirty”.  Just the other day it was the coffee machine overflow unit.  Really??  Who looks in there?

Prior to that it was the inside of the toaster – ditto!  Ok so she may have prevented a small fire from taking place in aforementioned toaster, but the coffee overflow drawer?

Before moving into this house she did a deep clean and granted some construction had taken place, but as the house had been empty for at least six months prior to our inhabiting, I was somewhat startled to learn the bathrooms were “veh-eey dirty”.

The house we left was also given a deep clean and there, it was on top of the kitchen cabinets that were “veh-eey dirty”.  These were never in my job description anyway, but again who looks there?

I wonder if she does it to prove her worth as a cleaner?  Does it demonstrate she is so proficient at her job that she will route out the scummiest of things in the sneakiest places?  Or whether she does it to prove that clearly I cannot be left to my own devices and clean the house as these are prime examples of my inept approach.  On which she would be entirely correct.

Or maybe she just thinks I’d like to know on a grubbiness scale where the house figures?  Before I cleaned you were a 3 at best, now you’re 9.9 because I got to the bottom of the coffee machine overflow drawer and now it sparkles.  However you will never be a 10 because the hound just walked by.

As I’ve always gone by the mantra “always tidy, rarely clean” as life is really too short for that kind of worry when you have dogs and cats, I wonder if I need to adjust my reaction.  Perhaps be more horrified that she’s managed to unearth this lack of cleanliness?  Or perhaps be more contrite at her discoveries?  Will that make her feel a bit better perhaps?

My lovely Mother always used to tidy up for the cleaning ladies which I always thought to be a waste of time, but she always argued they’re here to clean not tidy up after you!  And that is a valid point but then begs the question does one need not only a cleaner but a tidier as well? 

I do have to confess though I have always viewed cleaning as part of my exercise regime and therefore do not mind it particularly.  I remember one day having lunch with a group of 9 or so other ladies and being the only one that worked (at that time in corporate America) and the only one who didn’t have a cleaner.

But cleaning is the much the same as anything else in life if you want to be good at it, you need to study, learn and practice and there’s a reason my house shines after my cleaning lady has left and in between seems to get “veh-eey dirty”!

Look Gorgeous, Feel Fabulous - Sophie