Thoughts on Cleaning Ladies...

Today, as I sit here typing, there is a cleaning lady named Mela working in the upstairs of my home. It seems that every friend I have here in Hawaii (on the Air Force Base) has a cleaning lady. Many times I have listened in wonder as my friends discuss their cleaning ladies and asked if it was really worth the money. Everyone always says very enthusiastically "YES". Many people recommended names to me after Jesse saying that I just had to get one after the 3rd kid. I just never felt like I could justify it since we are trying to get school loans paid off and build up our savings. Isn't that one if the reasons why I became a stay at home mom? Shouldn't I be able to keep up with the house cleaning? Am I a failure if I get a cleaning lady? Then Joel got deployed and the house is a disaster...a no joke disaster. I interviewed some ladies and now am getting my house cleaned today and every other week from now on (at least until Joel comes home). I am still struggling with the decision but feel my time is priceless. Cleaning is not something that I alone and no one else can do. In fact I bet Mela does it better than me! So why not take that burden away from me for a little bit? Hhhmmm, I may never go back!