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Dirty, Little Secrets
My new housekeeper is finicky and that’s how it should be. After she cleans a place that’s hard to reach – the top of kitchen cabinets, the bedroom ceiling fan, the dryer stacked above the washing machine, she shakes her head and (channeling my mother) tells me, “it was very, very dirty.” In preparation for her visits, I tidy up, shoving stray items of clothing or office debris behind closed doors or inside drawers, hoping she won’t open them and discover I’m a mess.
The Secret Life of Heroes by Grégoire-Guillemin
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Haha! I also pre-clean before the housekeeper shows up. I do it mostly to get stuff out of her way and keep her from putting things away in the wrong place. I make sure the dishes are done and put away because 1) I don’t think she does a very good job of hand washing the dishes (I don’t have a dishwasher) and 2) she never puts anything where it belongs – she has been cleaning my house for 15 years and still doesn’t know where stuff goes or how to put decorative “stuff” I have arranged back in place after dusting. My mother used to say this was part of maid school training so you would see they actually moved stuff to clean. These things are minor in the scheme of things since she does such a great job on everything else, and I trust her completely.
That’s exactly right, Denise. Some of the stowing things away is so I won’t have to look for them later. I also want her to concentrate on deep cleaning rather than straightening up. And likewise, my housecleaner is great!