The Joys of A Clancey

I didn’t think I would ever have, or want, a cleaning lady.  It struck me as wasted money–paying someone to do something I should be doing myself.  (Be careful of the word “should.”  It is seldom helpful.)

Then, this post came through from one of my groups:

I just wanted to put in a word for Clancey. I saw the ad below and called her and we’ve had her help us several times since. She is AMAZING!!! So amazing, in fact, that we’re going to have her help us on a regular basis and I plan to hire her regularly for the first month or two post-partum next spring (yes, we’re pregnant!! :-)). HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend!!! She works fast and she works hard and it’s amazing what she manages to get done. My shower wasn’t this clean when I moved in, my craft and school materials not nearly so organized, my laundry room is beyond functional, and my basement – wow! We’ll actually be able to start using it soon!

Here’s the great thing:  My home didn’t need organized.  I’ve got a grip on all that.  And I clean it, but I didn’t deep clean it, and everywhere I looked, I saw dirt.  Dirt that I wasn’t going to make the time to clean, or more importantly, dirt I wasn’t going to take away time from Buds and the kids and writing to clean.

Plus, the name “Clancey” was a huge hook for me.  I didn’t want my home cleaned by some franchise cleaning company that uses toxic chemicals and sends some non-native speaker to my home who is being taken advantage of by the company.  Clancey had started her own business.  It was just one person, and her name was “CLANCEY!”  That is a great name!

So, I called Clancey, and she came for a visit, and we had a good, honest, even blunt conversation.  She uses the products I want her to use, I do what she wants me to do, and our home is clean.  Really clean, not just superficial clean.

I underestimated how much I would enjoy this feeling.  This sense of looking around our home and not seeing ick and dust bunnies, and grime on the base boards.  And I love not feeling like it is hanging over my head–this vision of myself as perfect homemaker who can have a perfectly clean house, perfectly clean children, perfectly perfect marriage.

Do I recognize that Clancey  is an extravagance?  Of course I do.  We could certainly do without her, and yet, she’s an extravagance that brings me pleasure every single day.  And for a family like us, that spends many, many hours at home together each day, something that helps us be even more in love with our home is worth it.