Dear cleaning lady, because you're to come help us tomorrow, I'm cleaning the entire house. This is because I'm Swedish, not at all comfortable with the concept of even having a cleaning lady. I want you to know that I respect your work and your back and your pension fund so I'm paying you lots of money.
Most of all; I don't want you to know how dirty the place really is. But I tell myself I'm cleaning because I want you to focus on the stuff I never have time to do:mopping the floors.
But you're in my house. You know everything about me.
'She goes into my house and just sorts it out. She deals with the housekeeper and the nanny, she makes sure the fridge is full and the laundry done, the house is clean. If I need to buy a tool kit, she gets it. If I need household appliances, she goes to Peter Jones and buys a blender. So I don't spend my weekends doing things like that. I'd rather have time with my little girl.'
So what does the housekeeper do? 'She's cleaning. She's doing the laundry. She cooks. But the running of it... Elika knows how I want my house to look, how I want it to be organised. I have to prioritise my time. It's such a waste of my valuable time to spend two hours in the morning telling the housekeeper, "Now, stack the laundry like THIS, towels go like THIS in THIS cupboard..." My time is better spent here, working.'
I think I also need two other women to take care of my towel stacking. My time is valuable!
Most of all; I don't want you to know how dirty the place really is. But I tell myself I'm cleaning because I want you to focus on the stuff I never have time to do:mopping the floors.
But you're in my house. You know everything about me.
I recently wrote an article on shoe empress Tamara Mellon, the force behind Jimmy Choo. Other women envy her collection of more than 500 pairs of shoes. Not me. I envy her because she has a woman who runs her house AND a housekeeper.
'She goes into my house and just sorts it out. She deals with the housekeeper and the nanny, she makes sure the fridge is full and the laundry done, the house is clean. If I need to buy a tool kit, she gets it. If I need household appliances, she goes to Peter Jones and buys a blender. So I don't spend my weekends doing things like that. I'd rather have time with my little girl.'
So what does the housekeeper do? 'She's cleaning. She's doing the laundry. She cooks. But the running of it... Elika knows how I want my house to look, how I want it to be organised. I have to prioritise my time. It's such a waste of my valuable time to spend two hours in the morning telling the housekeeper, "Now, stack the laundry like THIS, towels go like THIS in THIS cupboard..." My time is better spent here, working.'
I think I also need two other women to take care of my towel stacking. My time is valuable!
