Umm, yes, I started paying a friend of mine to clean my house, starting a couple of months ago. I do clear up stuff before she arrives so that she has a clear run on *cleaning* the house. Difference between "clearing up" and "cleaning". If (as there normally is) there is a heap of stuff all over the kitchen benches and dining table then I would have to pay for the cleaning lady to clear all the crap away and *then* start cleaning, so I'd be paying the same amount but getting half the cleaning done for the price. See, perfectly logical!

Apart from that, it's a motivator to clear stuff out of the way knowing that she is coming to clean, instead of me just procrastinating and saying I'll do it tomorrow or next week and always finding better things to do instead.

And, yes, it's also a thing about being embarrassed to let people see how bad my housekeeping skills are, although my hubby is probably worse than even me.

Helen