Hi, my name is Tiffany and I hate cleaning. With the burning of 1000 suns, I hate cleaning. I grew up in a very well-kept home. Everyone pitched in to do chores and deeper cleans on the weekend. I fought those chores every step of the way. Naturally, I’m a pretty messy person, but depression and anxiety leave me severely under-motivated and an intense case of ADHD has me chaotically using the little motivation I do have.
While I do appreciate a clean space, it has just never felt attainable, and the inner battle to get myself motivated and keep from bouncing around to tasks is completely exhausting in its own rite.
When I was single the mess didn’t bother me too much. My room could be a disaster but my one or two things were always easier to pick up from the common areas. Every once in a while the mess in my room would get too overwhelming- the dust and grime too thick- and I’d have to buckle down and get on top of the problem and do my best to manage one project at a time. I married an equally messy person and we have spent the past 5 years picking up after one another and trying to divvy up the big chores with rock, paper, scissors.
Most of the time there are a million other things we’d rather be doing than cleaning and those things usually win out.
When our first daughter was born I was gifted housekeeping services from Basic Necessities, a local cleaning company, and it opened my eyes! I hadn’t ever had help like that. It felt like a cheat code for life. I was sure I wasn’t going to like having someone clean up my home, but it lifted such a burden. We had Sierra (the owner) and her crew come in once right before the baby came and then again a few times after. I loved that after their visit I could walk into a room and breathe easier knowing that I had one less thing on my plate. My home was actually clean and we had a truly fresh start to work with. It seemed as though they cared about my home as much as I did. I loved having a clean home and not feeling like I’d run a marathon doing it myself. I could actually sit back and enjoy it!
After those few weeks, we debated but decided we weren’t in a position to have housekeeping come in regularly and so it was back to us scraping by with the bare minimum: dishes, pick up the floor, throw in a load of laundry, occasionally do a deep clean. As our daughter got older she, like so many kids, became a pro at undoing everything we picked up and being underfoot for each task we tried to accomplish. For every step we took forward in tidying our home, we took another four back. And that was just the day-to-day stuff.
We were quickly getting far behind and the image of the perfect mother I’d wanted to be who could do it all with hot meals served and a guest-ready home slipped further away. I wasn’t happy; it was so overwhelming that I remember crying just thinking about how best to tackle it. It seemed that no matter how many charts or routines we tried to implement, our home just wasn’t what I wanted it to be. Between the intense postpartum depression and mom guilt for not keeping a perfect home for my child, I was constantly battling myself. Something just had to give. I realized it was totally reasonable (and, in fact, needed) that I let go of the dream of the perfect “do-it-all mom” and get some help.
When we sat down, it became pretty clear that we could easily cut back our “fun budget” just a bit to accommodate someone coming in once a month and helping me keep on top of our home – and it would be well worth whatever “fun” we may be sacrificing!
It might seem silly but housekeeping services make me a better wife and mother.
Without the overbearing task constantly clouding my mind, I am more mentally present for my family! Physically, I’m spending more time playing than trying to keep up with chores, and overall I just feel good knowing I’m not drowning in housework and I still have a tidy home. My husband and I get to spend our nights together chatting and enjoying one another, not in separate rooms each trying to clean up as much as we can before we climb into bed.
Don’t get it twisted, we are still messy and have dishes to wash and toys to pick up, but that all feels less daunting when the other cleaning is handled. Maybe someday I’ll be better equipped and less overwhelmed by house chores, but for now, we are gladly using the hand up and enjoying our home a whole lot more!
I can’t recommend Basic Necessities enough! Contact Sierra to learn more about her services at 208-680-5264 or Basicnecessitieshousecleaning@gmail.com, or visit their website or Facebook page.
