I looked up “a clean house” in my mom dictionary today. I found no actual definition but the synonyms listed were “mythical unicorn” and “fake news”.
I GET IT. I am going to miss spraining my ankles on LOL Surprise Dolls miniature sunglasses, I don’t disagree. But I’m a mom of a 5 and 3 year old, I have a demanding full time job and I prioritize family time and a social life over plucking hardened Cheerios from under the kitchen island.
It turns out there’s a new sheriff in town with a different approach to housekeeping – Clean Day Housekeeping. I say sheriff because I initially wondered if they could talk some sense into a 3 year old and the trail of empty pouches he leaves in the house. Turns out, that’s not in their job description, but what IS, is a more personalized approach to housekeeping.
Clean Day Housekeeping was started by two sisters with an extensive background in cleaning and caring for their private client’s home. They know that much like my toddler’s eating habits, the needs of their clients change. They understand the importance of building an actual relationship with the people that are entering your most sacred space…your home.
I felt like a Powerball winner when I found out I was going to have the opportunity to work with this crew. I feel very lucky and fortunate to have had a team cleaning our house once a month since the kids were born, but, it’s a very transactional, impersonal situation. Once a month they text, confirm the day, they arrive….rinse and repeat.
My experience with Clean Day Housekeeping started with a consultation. Jessie and Taylor came in and introduced themselves and after about 3 minutes it felt like I sat down with two friends. We talked about the SPECIFICS of our home such as, High traffic areas, where we spend most of our time, areas that need organization, where we eat and where we play. They asked questions about products we like to use for cleaning and got to understand us and not just our house, but how we live in it.
Then, we did a walk through room to room. I showed them the shower in the basement no one uses…no need to spend time there. The area under the kitchen island where the hardened Cheerios go to die, I pointed that out. Cubbies, closets, the “do not open” doors, the well loved play areas, and “those” drawers. You know the drawers where you can find a pen, batteries, a sucker, 3 quarters, gift cards and a partridge in a pear tree.
We reconvened in the living room, at this point they had walked the house, asked all the right questions and I wondered if they had plans for Thanksgiving. Too soon? I don’t know, I felt like they knew me so well. We went over their policies and picked a day. We didn’t just pick a day, we picked a day exactly two days after about 80 people were at our house for a party. You may think I set them up for failure, I could tell after chatting with my new besties they were up for a challenge.
The night before, Taylor checked in, confirmed the cleaning and let me know to reach out if I needed anything. With Clean Day Housekeeping you get an incredible person assigned to you like Taylor that is like the concierge of housekeeping.
The next morning, my gal was right on time. She knocked on the door, introduced herself with a warm smile and got to work upstairs. At first I thought, “one person?”. It’s not like we live in a sprawling estate but can one person do it all? Will the attention to detail be lost? It felt like I set her up in a battle…one person vs. the 80 people at our house just two days ago. Music from Braveheart played in my head. Clean Day Housekeeping WON. She spent TIME at our home, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm and I felt like she put in the level of detail that she would if she lived here. All of the points I made in my consultation were covered and more. While my husband and I worked all day, the kids were in daycare and school, we had an incredible partner working behind the scenes.
When we arrived home, my focus was less on “what the heck is that on the floor” and more on quality time. I never want to look back on this season of life and think I spent more time cleaning when I could and SHOULD have been soaking in the beautiful chaos of 5 and 3. With my friends at Clean Day Housekeeping in my corner, that will never be the case.
