The Housekeeper is the Last to Go??

On the Fargo Forum’s online page this morning, there was a breaking news alert about a press conference at Bobcat. This press conference was being held to announce the closing of the Bismarck plant and the over 400 jobs that would be lost as a direct result.

On the front page of MSN this evening, one of their top news picks is “Hate Chores? Hire Some Help.” In light of what had been on the ticker of the Fargo Forum, the MSN ticker really caught my eye. How can people actually be thinking about hiring help for things like sweeping the floor, doing laundry, and going grocery shopping when hundreds of people are losing their jobs every day?

Being the type of person that I am, I had to read this article, even though I already had a good idea of who it was addressed to: the rich soccer moms that don’t hold down real jobs. I cannot tell you how surprised I was to find that the article addressed moms and dads from all levels of financial security. This article expounded on the increased amount of time you would have to spend with your children, your spouse, growing your business, or just having mental health time if you would only outsource your chores.

I had to find out more, so I Binged “outsourcing your chores” and over 67,000 results appeared. Obviously not all of them are relevant, but the first four or five pages are pretty damn relevant to what I was looking for. There were articles from both sides of the argument, and even some tidbits about outsourcing your chores to your children rather than a personal assistant.

One of the most interesting pieces on the flip side of what I’ve been talking about was a blog titled “The Personal Financier.” This blogger’s first sentence mirrors what my gut instinct was on this phenomenon: “…more often than not, laziness is the real reason while the spare time just generates more expenses.”

How many people hire a housekeeper so they can spend more time with their spouses or their children? My guess would be not nearly as many as those who hire the housekeeper so they can go out shopping for new Gucci handbags. In our economy, this fate-tempting is not something I would approach lightly. I would rather take a couple of organizational courses, get myself organized, complete all my own chores, and then enjoy the family time that I so richly deserve.

Sounds a lot better than writing a check for family time…