https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 01:11:08 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540661 Wed, 04 May 2016 09:51:52 +0000 Anagram 2540661@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: I would love to have someone do those tasks twice a week--amazing! I think it's a great decision if you can afford it. Our nanny does the girls' laundry every week (and hangs/puts it away, too!) and just having that one task off our plates has helped us so much. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540619 Wed, 04 May 2016 09:33:29 +0000 ShootingStar 2540619@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catomd00: So my thought with having someone come twice a week is that they can help us with all the things we get backed up on that need to be done more regularly - emptying and filling the dishwasher, taking care of bottle and pump parts, doing laundry (baby, toddler, sheets/towels). And then on top of that doing the regular deep cleaning like bathrooms and floors. But obviously they don't need to clean the same bathroom twice a week. </p> <p>I'm imagining some tasks I'll want them to do every visit, and some will be once every couple weeks, or even once a month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540289 Tue, 03 May 2016 20:50:31 +0000 catomd00 2540289@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Twice a week seems unnecessary to me personally. I think once a week or every other week to do regular cleaning would suffice for us personally. I don't find dishes and laundry to be that big of a deal during the week. It's keeping up with bathrooms, vacuuming and dusting that get us. But if you can afford it and it will improve your life, go for it. You can always pull back or add more... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540210 Tue, 03 May 2016 19:18:15 +0000 pinkcupcake 2540210@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If we both worked outside the house, I would def outsource some of the housework. </p> <p>I say if you have the money / room in the budget, go for it. I don't want to budget for it right now So I just struggle through, but there are definitely times when I wish we could cut back elsewhere to afford some help! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540208 Tue, 03 May 2016 19:16:48 +0000 Amorini 2540208@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: Thanks so much for raising this topic. We have two big fur-babies and LO #1 on the way and we already feel maxxed out. Lots of bickering and stupid fighting due to stress, limited time and a messy house. So not worth the marital breakdown to try to "do it all." So your post prompted me to get quotes for a weekly housecleaner. Yay!</p> <p>Not to thread hijack but since @gotkimchi: brought it up, what do you all think of hiring a Craigslist find if I can get multiple good references? I have an Angie's List person who would has great references but is about $100 more a month than the Craigslist person and that's about the amount of money that would make me get the housecleaner only every other week. I really want every week! I haven't checked out the Craigslist person's references yet but I will... Just curious since Craigslist has gotten so sketchy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540193 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:49:57 +0000 pregnantbee 2540193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: Sounds awesome! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540186 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:46:24 +0000 pregnantbee 2540186@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pumpkin Pie: Haha! I'd LOVE a personal chef/shopper. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540172 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:33:41 +0000 pregnantbee 2540172@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: Oooooh, will keep that in mind. Thanks for the rec! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540171 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:32:51 +0000 gingerbebe 2540171@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pregnantbee: If cost is an issue, a good middle ground is Cook Smarts - they provide a menu plan, recipes, and grocery list and they endeavor to repeat the use of ingredients during the week so that you're wasting less food and it's vastly less expensive than a meal delivery service. They have a variety of eating styles to choose from too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540160 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:15:58 +0000 Pumpkin Pie 2540160@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If I had the money, I would get a chef to prepare meals, and a part time nanny, on top of the house cleaner. I'd also get a baby sitter for date nights every couple weeks. </p> <p>I do find value in "doing it yourself", but I think most of it is overrated. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540159 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:13:56 +0000 ShootingStar 2540159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: I'll use care.com or ask around on some local Facebook pages. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540158 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:13:09 +0000 gotkimchi 2540158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: how are you going to find someone? This is what I struggle with </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540156 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:06:30 +0000 ShootingStar 2540156@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So DH and I had a talk about this tonight and he was on board with household help 4 hours a week. It will save us $300/month over having a morning nanny, and he was more comfortable with that. I think it's a good compromise and a worthwhile expense :happy: . </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540151 Tue, 03 May 2016 18:02:59 +0000 pregnantbee 2540151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I will be sitting down to truly figure out what extra help we will need after DD arrives. We already have someone clean the house once a month, but I'm thinking we should up it to every 2 weeks for our sanity. DH also said he'd consider starting Blue Apron or something b/c he's willing to cook as long as he doesn't have to buy things/come up with a meal plan. DS will still be in full-time preschool during my maternity leave, and I'd imagine we'll be doing a lot of dividing and conquering. I'll probably get the baby due to breastfeeding and he'll get DS more of the time. I'd personally say that if you have the money, it's worth solving some potential problems/problems with it. That's what we tend to do, and it's worth it!</p> <p>ETA: I'd even consider adding an evening babysitter at least a couple times a week if that would help with the craziness that is bedtime/bottle washing/laundry/prep, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2540122 Tue, 03 May 2016 17:02:44 +0000 JenGirl 2540122@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I say ditch the idea that "other people do it, so we should". Seriously. Who cares what other people do. Instead of approaching it as "Why do we need this" try approaching this as "Why wouldn't we do this?"</p> <p>It's all about priorities. What do you want out of life? Most people would say they want more time with their family. So if you have the funds to hire out work, why not? We do. Yes, I could do all the cleaning, but it would make me more stressed and give me less time with my son, so why would I? If the financial hit would make things tight, in a way that would be stressful, then you obviously need to balance out which is more stressful. But I think it's silly of him to just dismiss it outright because you could survive without it. I mean, I could grow all my own vegetables, but I don't - I am happy to spend money at the grocery store! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2539995 Tue, 03 May 2016 14:59:42 +0000 psw27 2539995@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>100% agree with everyone else who said get a housekeeper. I was opposed to it at first, because I thought I could just do it. But ours isn't "that" expensive, does an amazing job and frees up my weekends to do other things. </p> <p>Also, I've used cooking from the heart for meal delivery and it's pretty good! I've been thinking of trying foodery too if they deliver to your area! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2539965 Tue, 03 May 2016 14:37:13 +0000 Mrs. J 2539965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We were like you guys. DH grew up with a cleaning lady every other week, and that was something my parents never would have paid for. I was pretty adamant that we did not need one, but when I went back to work after LO#2, we decided to have someone come every other week. Honestly, it's been amazing. I used to have to do a lot of the cleaning, and this takes a load off me. Are our lives still nuts? Yes...we have two kids, 20.5 months apart, and I teach, but this is one thing that helps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2539945 Tue, 03 May 2016 14:19:24 +0000 catlady 2539945@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: We don't have household help (yet!) but once we have another, I will probably try to get more. DH and I have been talking about this alot and we don't know too many people who have dual full-time careers and who also manage to "do it all" alone. Of my co-workers with kids, most have a spouse who is SAH or works only part-time. DH's co-workers have nannies or au-pairs, or grandparents who live with them full-time, or other situations like that. It seems like most people have some sort of village to help them out, whether they pay for it or not.</p> <p>I think back to my childhood and seriously, my parents took so many short cuts. I was babysitting my brother by the time I was only 8 years old. We ate so many frozen dinners, the house was rarely cleaned, and we spent tons of time with grandparents, cousins, neighbors, you name it. Plus, my mom never even worked full-time! Plus consider how much more pressure there is for us to do time consuming things, like breastfeeding/pumping instead of formula, homemade meals instead of pre-made, etc. I can't tell you how many times I cooked mac &amp; cheese from a box for me and my little brother on school nights as a kid, but DH can't fathom the idea of giving our LO anything less than healthy, homemade dinners every night. We are hanging on right now, but add another kid to the mix, and we are definitely going to need help too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2539924 Tue, 03 May 2016 14:04:23 +0000 gotkimchi 2539924@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am desperate for help! I would love a housekeeper a few days a week but I don't think we can make it work yet :( I'm considering other ways to help like wash and fold laundry service etc. But right now basically we just suffer </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2539910 Tue, 03 May 2016 13:45:45 +0000 Anagram 2539910@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also think, in terms of "doing it all", that some people have rose colored glasses about it, as Gingerbebe sort of touched on. </p> <p>I used to think my mom did it all when I was growing up, and I would chime into conversations like these with "My mom managed to do it all, so I know it's possible" but when I actually talked to her about it and really thought back--it wasn't exactly true. She didn't always work. There were times when she stayed home a couple of years after having another baby. There were times when we had a cleaning lady. There were times when we, the kids, were home all day long by ourselves on Saturdays with a long chore list of things to clean because Mom was out all day grocery shopping for the week, so we had to do all the cleaning . Obviously that was when we were older.</p> <p>And recently, my mom was recounting how she made it work when I was a baby--I was the 5th kid and my dad had to transfer jobs to another state, but the old house wasn't selling, so my mom had to stay there alone with 5 kids and a full time teaching job and a new baby (and a 2 year old!). She frequently tells me it was the worst time in her life. When I asked her how she did it, she filled in a lot of gaps with information I never knew before. All the younger kids were watched by a neighbor. But a separate neighbor came over evenings to help. My oldest brother had to do all the yard work since my dad was gone. And my oldest sister had to clean the house on weekends. </p> <p>Some people have family help. Some people have messy houses. Some people never work out, or eat out every night. I have a really hard time believing many people out there are doing it all and having it all, you know? </p> <p>Something is giving somewhere. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help/page/2#post-2539888 Tue, 03 May 2016 13:37:22 +0000 gingerbebe 2539888@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: FWIW, I grew up with my parents (err, my mom) doing EVERYTHING while working long manual labor jobs. They couldn't afford outside help anyway, but my mom was a tightly-wound, control-freak who fed her anxiety through trying to keep the house neat and clean. She was a tense, stressed out, screaming crazy lady for the vast majority of my childhood.</p> <p>MIL was a SAHM of 3 (that were all under 2 years apart) and basically the house was just a hot mess all the time. She couldn't juggle cooking meals and managing 3 kids very well so DH just remembers awful meals, or fast food, or TV dinners, and there never being enough groceries in the house because his mom couldn't get a list together and was always forgetting something. He said he and his siblings would fight over cereal all the time because it was like the only snack in the house and his mom could never understand why there was NEVER cereal around for breakfast.</p> <p>All this is to say, just because our parents managed without help doesn't mean it was GOOD. We make more money than either of our parents and even though we get raised eyebrows from them about having paid help for things, its like well, we'd rather just be less stressed out and present for each other and our children. We'd just rather NOT spend our time changing our own oil or mowing our lawn or scrubbing our toilets. Or fighting about who is going to do those things! I'd rather feel my BP go down when I walk in the house because I see vacuum lines on my rug and peacefully start dinner. There's no price tag for peace like that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539875 Tue, 03 May 2016 13:29:57 +0000 Littlebit7 2539875@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: Thats what my struggle was. "I can do it all". Well, yes, while technically true but at what cost? There are a lot of things in life we can do ourselves but outsource for a variety of reasons and thats totally ok. And I was doing some sort of half-assed attempt at doing it all.<br /> Maybe convince him to do a trial run of a month or so and see how it goes. That way he feels as though he can back out if its not working but odds are you both with love the help!</p> <p>We have no family near us; so I've just come to accept that I have to pay someone X amount to help out every so often. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539866 Tue, 03 May 2016 13:23:41 +0000 ShootingStar 2539866@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Littlebit7: With DS I did use the dishwasher for the pump parts. But there's still a certain amount of overhead because they never really dry in the dishwasher, so it has to get emptied, the parts (bottles and pump ones) have to get dried or put on a drying rack, and then they have to get put away. </p> <p>The dishwasher gets filled up so quickly, and we're not so good at staying on top of this kind of stuff. That's part of why I thought someone taking care of it at least 2x/week for us would help. DH says "oh we should be able to do it" and my point is, well but we don't. </p> <p>@gingerbebe: Yes, definitely multiple parts!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539652 Tue, 03 May 2016 10:51:12 +0000 gingerbebe 2539652@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: Oh yeah, get 2 or more sets of pump parts! Totally worth it. You can put the parts in one of those Munchkin dishwasher cages and get a Boon Span for the bigger parts that may not fit (along with sippy cups and bottles) to dishwash it all before bed.</p> <p>I usually used one set of pump parts for 2 days (kept in the fridge in a gallon size ziploc bag) while the clean set was being washed or sitting in another ziploc bag in the fridge (to keep "fresh" because I usually didn't have time to wait for them to fully dry before packing them up). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539611 Tue, 03 May 2016 10:03:27 +0000 Mrs D 2539611@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are getting a cleaning lady with the addition of #2. We also have plenty of family around and a babysitter who can and does help when life becomes too much. DH and I both have demanding jobs (attorney and controller) with unpredictable hours.</p> <p>Kids - DH and I can generally handle them, but then again this would be the last place we'd "give" on. Pick Up/Drop Off only takes about 20 mins extra each time...so its not that BIG for us.</p> <p>Food - I have told DH that he will need to give me 1-2 hours kid free time on Sunday to prep for the week. FWIW - DH does not take a lunch and the kids meals are all provided by Daycare. I only need to prep my own meals and dinners for the week. I prep breaksfast, snacks and 3 lunches on Sundays. I'm also going to add in prepping veggies/starches for our dinners on Sundays as well.</p> <p>Housecleaning - We are super lucky that our DD1 still goes down at 7/730 for the night. DD2 seems to be similar right now. So I do a lot of picking up/cleaning on week nights. I try to do it every other night. So yes - every other night my house may look scary!</p> <p>We're getting a cleaning lady once a month for 8 hours. She will scrub everything so we just have to "maintain" during the month. We are also committing to a standing date night. And 1 week a quarter we are hiring a sitter to do pick ups each day that week (I work 80-90 hours the week of our quarter close).</p> <p>I'd love a nanny but its not in the budget for us right now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539602 Tue, 03 May 2016 09:44:54 +0000 Littlebit7 2539602@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: We just got a housekeeper this past weekend. WHOA I am totally kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I don't know, I guess I thought I needed to do it all myself. I'd say I do/manage about 95% of the household stuff, to include childcare and most housework. I work part time/per diem. DH travels a ton. It wasn't until last week when he, out of the blue, said "maybe we should get a cleaning person". He had said it in the past and I've totally brought it up but it just clicked this time for some reason. Doing our "fair share" is a big point of tension in our marriage.<br /> So, on another mom's recc, we had this woman start this weekend. BEST MONEY EVER SPENT. I could eat off of my toilet bowl.<br /> She's going to return every two weeks and I swear this will really ease some considerable tension in our relationship.<br /> I think your FREE TIME is worth a lot on an hourly basis, if you want to break it down monetarily. There is a great calculator to see what your time is worth<br /> <a href="http://programs.clearerthinking.org/what_is_your_time_really_worth_to_you.html#.Vyi4dmMbLyc" rel="nofollow">http://programs.clearerthinking.org/what_is_your_time_really_worth_to_you.html#.Vyi4dmMbLyc</a></p> <p>oh and as an aside, I don't know if you do this already, but I throw all of my pump parts in the dishwasher. I noticed no adverse effects and it really streamlined the cleaning process.</p> <p>Where we live it is really easy to find a nanny to come and help with AM or PM childcare. They are looking for a quick and relatively easy way to tack some extra income onto the end of their day after working for another family. You might have to pay a little more on an hourly basis but I see posts from nannies all the time on my moms group. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539588 Tue, 03 May 2016 09:32:01 +0000 youboots 2539588@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree a house cleaner is amazing. Ours comes as needed every 3-4 weeks. We have a pretty big lot and have some weeding/planting/bark dust spreading done a few times a year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539577 Tue, 03 May 2016 09:25:02 +0000 hb3233 2539577@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: I think 2 days per week/2 hours per day should be enough to get a lot done. I'm a reasonably efficient cleaner, but I'm blown away by how fast the woman we have come once a month can deep clean and have our place looking in top shape (like in an hour). People who do this sort of thing for a living get really fast at it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539553 Tue, 03 May 2016 08:59:59 +0000 maddyz 2539553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Coming home after the cleaning lady has been there makes me happy is ways that are %100 worth the money. We have someone clean once a month. I am 20 weeks pregnant and have a 14 month old. I just can't easily scrub the bathroom right now. And a clean house effects how I feel it's so worth it. When the baby comes I hope to do twice a month for a while.</p> <p>Our nanny does some small things when she is home with LO. His wash, loads the dishwasher, wipes counters. And I sweep and mop often. So we get by between cleanings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/household-help#post-2539081 Mon, 02 May 2016 15:04:05 +0000 agold 2539081@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: I vote for getting a maid to come once or twice a month. That will relieve you of having to do what I consider to be hard cleaning, like scrubbing floors/showers/toilets/ovens, wiping baseboards, ceiling fans, shutters. That kind of stuff can open up an entire Saturday for you and your family to enjoy! Even if you have to sit in a park and spend no money to compensate for the maid, I think its worth it. Just my two cents! Good luck, fellow August mama!</p> <p>ETA: Just saw your latest comment! If you want someone twice a week, go for it!! Hahaha. Of course you can do all of this stuff yourself. Effortlessly, I don't know. What in life doesn't take some amount of effort? Still. Its nice to free up some time, even if you have to pay for said free time (assuming you have the ability to do so). </p>