By Leslie Means 
Today, I paid a stranger to clean my home.
We aren’t wealthy. Far from it. We’re just a typical middle-class family living in middle America.
We have student loans from our college days (even though we’re climbing our way to age 40).
We shop the Target clearance section and rarely go on vacation.
We work a lot. When we’re not working, we’re spending time at kid activities or church functions or family birthday parties.
We have two girls who are quickly approaching the pre-teen stage, and one little dude who just turned 6 months old.
We’re tired. We’re so tired.
And at night, when we get home from where we’ve been, we’re checking homework and feeding kids and signing permission slips. We’re coordinating bath time and pick up times. We’re singing lullabies and saying prayers.
And by 9 p.m. (if we’re lucky) we’re planted on our couch to watch something mindless on Netflix, before our eyes drift off to sleep for another day.
And we love it. Gosh, we love it. This simple life is everything my husband and I dreamed of having.
We’re in a busy season. A tired season. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something for ourselves every once in a while.
My breaking point came a few weeks ago. I sat down on my floor to clean another sticky something and noticed hand prints on our white cupboards. And cobwebs in the corner. And a glob of ketchup on the chair – leftover from a meal we had weeks ago.
I didn’t cry, nah, I know how dirty my house is. But I did laugh. And probably said a word my mother wouldn’t approve of. And then, right there, I made a decision to hire a house cleaner.
Because at night, I’m too tired to do it. And on the weekends, I want to spend more time with the people I love and less time with my broom.
Lazy? No. I don’t think so. Smart? Yes.
At this point in motherhood, I’ve figured out what to do to make myself happy, you know? And I’m not ashamed to do just that. Even if that means I have to tighten our budget just a bit more to make it happen.
So today, someone else cleaned my toilets.
Today, someone else scrubbed the stains from my kitchen sink.
Today, someone else picked up Legos my kids left behind.
Today, someone else stepped over piles of our dirty laundry.
Today, someone else cleaned off sticky fingerprints, and wiped down dirty counters and used a toothbrush to scrub the tiny corners of the bathroom floor.
Today, someone else helped this mama find a bit more sanity in her day which will, in turn, make me a better wife and mother to this family I love so much.
Don’t be afraid to do something that will make your life easier, friend. Believe me – you’re worth it.
(Thanks for all the love on this piece, friends! So thankful for you all.)
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