‘Sundays are busier than other days of the week.’
‘Why?’
‘Oh ho! You don’t understand. It’s the only day the help comes when I am home and I need to follow her around so that the house can be cleaned well, swept and mopped under the bed. Then comes the kitchen cleaning. So much to do on my one day off of the week’
‘But I thought she was good.’
‘She is but you know how it is important for me to get engaged else the house will remain dirty.’
‘I still don’t understand.’
‘Leave it. If I was cleaning the house, it would have been spick and span.’
‘So what?’
This was a snippet of the conversation I had with my Mum the other day. She is a working woman, has delegated a lot of chores to be able to focus on her job and yet she can’t stop micro managing. She thinks if she doesn’t get up to follow the help around once a week on Sundays which by the way is her day off, the house will be a mess. Trust me, it is in her mind. The house looks great on all days of the week and after the mammoth efforts each Sunday, nothing big changes. At least when I am home, it’s all the same to me.
Sometimes I think this is something that bothers not just my Mum but a lot of other women. I would like to call these women the perfectionists. They want things their way. Clean like they want and arranged like they would do. They delegate because they need support but they can’t really keep their hands off the job they have delegated.
I hear this in my circle of working women and SAHM bloggers as well. Every single time I am explained why these women couldn’t find time to take a nap, head for a lunch with friends or walk outside for an hour, I know why. Sometimes, let it go. Let the Sunday chores not bother you. Read a book and relax on a yet-to-be made bed. Spend time with yourself and if the thought of cleaning up with the help comes to you mind, say ‘So what?’.
I am participating in the A To Z Challenge for the third time this year and I am penning Stories from everyday life.
happiness and food 
This was very much the story of my home, until recently. As a SAHM I had been wasting a lot of time supervising the help, micromanaging her only to note that in my absence too the home looked just the same.
Bad habits die hard. Luckily, sense dawned and I learnt to take it easy. Just like you rightly mentioned, this way I have found a lot of free time to do my thing, every day.
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I clean when something looks like it needs cleaning. I have a friend who is 82 and she has a cleaning schedule. Just her and her sedentary husband. It makes me crazy when she is telling me she needs to go home and do her dusting for the day. I dust once a month, lol.
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I love your attitude Parul. Life is too precious to spend over following the help! I agree that you should be able to delegate and accept a little imperfection
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I am like your mom. My home has to be spic and span before I can sit and relax. I just cannot laze around with pending chores. Our wiring in the head is a bit different. LOL 😀 So while other people in our building call their house-helps a bit late on weekends, for me it has to be just as usual.
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Luckily I don’t have that problem. I find it very easy to relax in a mess – in fact, I find it comforting! I keep up with the cleaning when it needs done, but I don’t want to live in something resembling a show home.
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‘ Husbands ‘ don’t see the ‘ dust ‘ ! 😎😎😎
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I am right the opposite and many at home call me too careless.. you post for sure boosts my energy :)..LET IT GO!!
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You are talking about me! I cannot sit peacefully if my house is messy house. Aadat se majboor!:))
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Well explained. I won’t blame your mum as I belonged to the same group until a few months ago. But then I realised I had more important things to do on my one day off…family, friends, fitness….and then “so what” happened!!!
-Prasanna from Team mocktail mommies.
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HA HA ENJOYED READING THIS PIECE
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Oh I have just learnt to let it go and dont get excited when the maid takes a “chutti” – she only comes back the next day to do everything – I pile it up instead of cleaning and muttering at the same time! Its a day to order out the day she takes an off!!!
Loved your though process here Parul!
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As a doctor, I can assure you… all their blood pressures would be normal (instead of the Everest it is) if they just would not fret over needless things like this. 🙂
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Sadly, I am not the one to be like this.
I have OCD when it comes to household chores and it just drives me nuts if I see dust anywhere. I don’t have a maid as I like things done a certain way. I’m not the one to keep following a maid to get things done, I’d rather do it myself instead.
I’m weird, I know.
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I’m not like that – housework bores me but there are people who really enjoy it. Perhaps your Mum likes pottering around getting things done?
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My mom is like this too! She just can’t sit down and relax a little. And I do the same sometimes 😛 I can’t see dust around. But yeah it is just a room, so it won’t take long.
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My daughter is lazy .When she was a kid and I asked her to do some work , she always used to pass it on to her brother .what else you can expect from her than “so what ?”
Six days my maids enjoy in my absence so one day I make them to work . Daily I can see their negligence in one or other corner & wait for sunday .
Infact I enjoy doing my house hold work on Sundays and feel satisfied to see it. (Though my back starts paining )
It’s life dear
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Ha ha! I knew you had to say that 😉
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hehe Moms are like that…they like everything perfect. I often get that for my dusty shelf and messy table that also doubles as my office since I work from home. But, nothing beats the joy of relaxing with a book during the weekends.
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I am one of those who don’t mind it too much… seriously it gets so stressful when you keep thinking about the house and the dirty dishes… We need to chill 🙂
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My mum is like that too. She can’t take a break and she feels that if she does, the house will fall apart. You are right. Of course not. There is only so much we can get out of work and routine, and we all need a break or at least time to do something that we really enjoy doing. Sometimes I think being too clean is bad for us – we aren’t exposed to germs enough and can’t develop resistance to it 😀
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I write every available moment so much so I took up another hobby that wouldn’t need me looking at a computer screen! I now make cards and have met up with so many other lovely people. The change of routine inspires me to write more. S is for SEO Strategy as you Build a Better Blog #atozchallenge
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