I’m 99% certain that the majority of you will agree with me when I say that I HATE cleaning. I do as little as I can to keep the house clean and relatively tidy but often put off jobs that need doing because there’s something more interesting to do (watching paint dry and waiting for a pot to boil spring to mind here ;-)).
But I’ve got a new secret weapon that helps me to keep the house looking spick and span without even needing to lift a finger and I guarantee that you won’t guess what it is….
Actually, it’s not a what but a who….
She’s like my little cleaning fairy and I don’t even have to ask her to do it.
I finish work most days at half past two so I’m back in time for the kids getting in from school but one day a week I work a late shift so I don’t get home until eight o clock. For the last few months, I’ve been coming home from work on my late shift to find the house spotless- and when I say spotless, I mean it.
She cleans the house from top to bottom including hoovering from top to bottom, dusting, putting clothes away,recycling, washing the sinks as well as just generally tidying up. She even carries a pack of wipes around (she asked me to buy them for her bless her) and gives the windowsills and any where else that needs it a good wipe.
Mr Frugal says it takes her about an hour and a half to two hours each week because she does that much!
I thought for the first couple of weeks that she was after something and I deliberately didn’t reward her too much as I think that children should help around the house without expecting a reward or a payment but she’s just doing it because she says that she wants to!
She says she just gets in a cleaning mood and she likes to help out so she does it without expecting anything! I know, how weird is that?
I can’t let her do it every week without any reward though so I do take her for a Costa to thank her and this week I paid her £10 to do it as it’s the first time I’ve ever actually asked her to do it. And as a bonus, she cleaned the skirting boards all downstairs for me and even forced helped Master Frugal tidy his bedroom!
Like I said earlier, I think children should do jobs because they’re part of the family and we should all chip in but if I have the money and she’s doing something so over and above what I could ever expect her to do then I’m actually happy to pay her like I did yesterday.
How do you feel about paying children to do jobs?
Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on BlogLovin or Networked Blogs and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram.
Image credit: Shutterstock, www.BillionPhotos.com
Discover more from The Diary of a Frugal Family
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I like it.
Let me share my secret of having a spotlessly cleaned home. I hired the professional cleaners, the best in City Bowl, and they cleaned all nooks and corners with great perfection.
It was easier for me to get my apartment thoroughly cleaned by the professional cleaners as they were very flexible, soft spoken, and friendly. They did not bother anyone in the surroundings, and a huge cleaning job was done peacefully.
Do you have a newsletter? If so, do you send out blog posts like these to your list? I would be interested in signing up if you do.
I'm envious. Seems like every time I come back to your website you have a new interesting thing for me to read. How do you stay so motivated? Do you research all of these posts before posting?
I agree with you all the way. While I like a clean house, if I have the choice to do something fun with friends or family or something I want to do…sorry, but housecleaning takes a back seat. My house is clean enough for us!
Wow that is amazing. Bless her. My two have jobs that they have to do around the house including emptying the dishwasher, taking out the recycling and putting a wash on.
I would happily pay my kids to clean the house, what a lovely helpful daughter you have.
If only my daughter were the same. We call her the womble in our house as she creates so much mess and usually has a pocket of rubbish! I am more than happy to do a Bavarian exchange if you like!! 😀
My girls are younger so I only ask for things from my eldest – more than from the youngest anyway. I don't want to have a tidy house though…I prefer a cleaner house but it's hard with kids…very hard
I remembered being paid for jobs I did around the house as a young girl so I think its great! I remember feeling proud to be helping and any money was a bonus!! What a great daughter and is she likes helping too even better!
Wow! Love to have her come to my house — only problem is that I live in the States… :D.
How wonderful that she wants to help and I would certainly reward her too. What a wonderful daughter to have x
I think there's a big difference between paying them do do things are rewarding them when they do things. You started off using a reward but if you want to turn it into a regular expectation then paying is great.
I think certain things ought to be expected anyway (bedrooms, clearing or laying the table, washing up, etc) but after that if they want to earn a bit of extra and are prepared to take on that responsibility on regular basis (and you can afford it), then why not? Good for her!
Wow that is amazing. Bless her. My two have jobs that they have to do around the house including emptying the dishwasher, taking out the recycling and putting a wash on. I don't pay them though as they are too young to understand the value of money.
Oh my goodness! That's amazing! We started paying my 14yo son to do the hoovering and cut the grass earlier this year. When I'm busy with work, I don't have time to do them, but I don't earn regular enough money for us to justify paying for a cleaner, so this seemed like the obvious solution. If they're doing a good job and the alternative would be to pay a cleaner, why not pay the kids? It teaches them valuable lessons about hard work, money and responsibility. (I still have to do everything else though, so I'm very jealous that you've got such a brilliant daughter!)