Lane on all things domestic, a guest post.

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I am on “Blog-cation” (read as blog vacation) this week. So, this week you’ll be entertained in my (mostly) absence by people whose blogs I adore, drool over and aspire to be like.

First up, my dear, dear friend Lane. Lane, a working superwoman, wife, mother, AUTHOR, and blogger is funny, honest, and she loves me so she has written a beautiful post for my blog. So, without further delay….Lane.

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A dash of domestic. To me, that title implies that you have heaps of domestic just lying around, and you can afford to just pinch out a dash of it now and then to flavor the world. I think that is entirely true of Jamie’s vast stores of domestic goddessery. However, I am the lowest of the low when it comes to being skilled at home and hearth–listen, one guy I dated told people that the reason he didn’t marry me was because I was so bad at housekeeping–so I’m the one you’ll find running around trying to scrape up every crumb of knowledge I can find. My guest blog entry is about how there is hope for those of us who appear to be hopeless.

At 40, I am just learning how to make my household run, and I have done so by admitting that I am not good at this. There is a freedom in acknowledging your own ignorance. And just as I would hire a mechanic to fix my fuel line, or an electrician to install a breaker box, or a plumber to replace that orange ring thingy in my toilet, I have hired professionals to come in and help me clean my house.

Once every three weeks, a team of Molly Maids comes in and gives me the boost I need to keep moving forward with my own intern level abilities. I come home from work to find my carpets done, my counters cleaned, my tubs and toilets scrubbed, and my baseboards washed–I never even knew you were supposed to wash your baseboards! Then, for the next 20 days, I work at keeping their artistry up to code. I come home from work on Day 21 and find my place put back to right, smelling fresh, and void of clutter. It’s like fairies have visited.

This has meant making changes in my spending elsewhere. Hiring professionals is not cheap, but I find the return on investment makes the price I pay well worth it. Physically and especially emotionally, having hired help has made my life better. I figure I’m saving money on a therapist.

After struggling through six years of trying to keep up after myself, my husband, and then adding to our mess with a baby…I cried the first time Molly Maids came and cleaned my house. I straight up cried. Why? Relief. Ha!

As a woman, I feel like I should just automatically be good at sweeping and dusting, and that I should automatically know how to place doilies and pour tea service. I’m missing that chip, though. My factory install didn’t even cover how to sort laundry, which is why I have never been able to wear a rayon garment more than once before having to relegate it to doll clothes. I beat myself up over my inabilities for years.

My contribution to Dash of Domestic is this: Thank God for women like Jamie, who make it look so easy, and who share their shortcuts and successes. And thank God for the people who work in the domestic service industry, who make it possible for women like me to live with sparkling sinks and kitchen tile.

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• Posted in: blogging ♦ homemaking
• Tagged: Blog, Domestic worker, Family, Home, Mother, People