An FYI: I was provided a sample of Homejoy home cleaning services for purposes of this post. All experiences are mine, all opinions are my own. Homejoy encourages busy parents & professionals to enjoy #MoreSpring (and less cleaning) this season. Take advantage of a $25 discount on your first cleaning: visit homejoy.com/fabmom through May 3, 2015.
It hit me as I was literally scrubbing the in-between grout area of my shower’s tile with one of LadyP’s old toddler toothbrushes: My girl – my first born – will be in Kindergarten (ok, Transitional-Kinder since we’re in California) this fall. My second baby will also be starting preschool two mornings a week. Where have my babies gone? No more babies at my house. Only little miniature girls who I’ve recently realized are actually growing up.
I started crying. Crying while scrubbing a shower, that’s a sight. In my head I blamed the pungent mildew spray I was using on the stain I was trying to get rid of, but I really knew that the tears were rooted in my heart. I scrubbed more violently as I thought about how the past few years had already passed so quickly (just like everyone told me they would)… and a few tears fell out of my eyes and onto the tile.
I scrubbed more. I suddenly started missing my babies. I scrubbed and scrubbed while listening to my growing people entertain themselves in the living room (because I told them they couldn’t go outside yet, because I had to clean my shower and needed them inside so I could hear what they were doing). Something was wrong with my picture. Time was moving, people were growing, the sun was warm and shining… and I was scrubbing my shower? Pathetic.
I stopped my scrubbing and busted into the den. “We’re all going outside. Now!” They froze, delightfully looked at me like I was crazy and then jumped up screaming. Everybody ran outside giggling. Myself included. We swung on our swings.
We made colorful Play-Doh cookies (which my smartie-pants-little-one then tried to really eat just to gross me out).
We. Had. Fun. Pure joy. I never pegged myself as a sappy Oh-look-how-fast-they’re-growing mother but I’d suddenly turned into one these last few weeks. Maybe it was the brooding Kindergarten orientation happening at the end of this month that was jacking with my mind.
And the yucky gross shower (that I had not finished) was still staring me down. Despite my outdoor joy, that shower stressed me out.
The next day, I made an executive decision: I booked a home cleaning appointment with Homejoy. No way was I going to trade sunshine and youth for scrubbing my shower tile with my toddler’s old toothbrush. I needed more joy – more spring, if you will. Enlisting a cleaning professional would give me more joy, more fun, more ‘spring’ with my girls before everyone started school in the fall.
Homejoy is a platform that connect clients with thousands of verified cleaning professionals in just a few clicks (as opposed to being a cleaning services company). Appointments are available 7 days a week in over 30 cities in the US and Europe… not to mention, they screen and background check all their professionals. (Score there.)
The gal who showed up at my door a few days later (Melissa) was on-time, friendly, fast, courteous and clean. (She even brought all her own cleaning supplies, which totally surprised me. For convenience, you can also request your cleaning expert to bring non-toxic cleaning products when you book your appointment online.) I booked a couple of hours of cleaning (shorter than what I’d normally need for the size of my home) because I just needed a major focus on my shower. My shower that still had my toddler’s toothbrush in it, thanks to my ditched attempt a few days earlier…
So after I showed Melissa my (embarrassing) failed attempt to conquer my master bath, I took my girls outside. We plopped ourselves under our backyard orange tree…
We picnicked. And got a little goofy. For no good reason.
After a few hours we headed back inside… and just like magic, everything was all sparkly. Whoa. No scrubbing included (on my part, anyways). The stains I were sobbing on days before were gone. Stains that I didn’t even realize I had were gone. And to think I’d been goofing off outside when they disappeared. I was so overjoyed I almost cried into my sink…
I wondered if Melissa thought I was a freak for being so grateful. Maybe I’ll find out soon (since Homejoy has a ‘preferred cleaner’ feature that allows you to book the same professional at your wish…) She gave me a quick wrap-up and mini-tour of what she’d done, said thank you and was gone just like that. Magic. And sparkles.
I smiled. I got more sun, less scrubbing. More spring, less cleaning. More ‘me’ time, less mess. And that stress-y feeling was suddenly all gone. Turns out I needed that outside joy just as much as my girls did. So much better than crying over lost time while scrubbing a shower, no?
To get more spring for yourself (and your family) take advantage of a $25 discount when you book your first cleaning: visit homejoy.com/fabmom and book your first service before May 3, 2015. With Homejoy for iOS and Android, booking is simple and secure from your phone. #MoreSpring
