Monday, September 1, 2008

Letter to My Cleaning Lady


Dear Miss Carmen,

I am sorry I ever secretly thought I could clean as well as or even better than you. Sure I'm 38 years old and you are a 55 year old grandma, but here I am, 6 hours into what for you is a 4 hour job, and I’ve yet to scratch the surface of what you do, so capably, every other week.

Every time I turn around I see something else that you do, that I haven’t gotten to yet. I am sorry for those times that we didn’t put our full effort into pre-cleaning the night before you got here. Now I know personally how disheartening it must be to see dishes in the sink, when you just want to get down to business, or a pile of stuffed animals that you have to clean around in the kids’ rooms.

For those times I inwardly thought you could have done more, I am so sorry. Clean the front of the kitchen cabinets? Ha! I haven’t even started on the bathrooms yet.

I am sorry for the times we didn’t get out of your hair in the morning and you had to clean around us as we ran around the house like crazy people. School is starting, and I promise we’ll give you space to work.

I’m really, really sorry about the dog. I know she has made your life more difficult. I will understand if you assess us a dog hair surcharge from now on.

You are away visiting your family right now. Please promise you’ll come back! Mea culpa and Lo siento.

Love,
Anna

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have the worst cleaning lady ever. I'M the cleaning lady - and I don't know how people whip through a house and make it sparkle in a matter of hours. At best - I manage to clear space on the floor.