# Do you give your housekeeper/housecleaner a key?



## RiverSky (Jun 26, 2005)

We are considering/planning to get a housekeeper or housecleaner (is there a difference) to come in and help us out with the big jobs sometime soon. We talk about having her come in once a week for 2 hours, or perhaps every two weeks for 2 hours. We're on a tighter budget so it wouldn't be that easy for us to pay for it but the extra peace of mind and additional help would be incredibly welcome and we would love to have a cleaner house than we have right now. Instead of cleaning for those two hours a week, I could sit down and read extra stories or do a special project with my children for those two hours, how wonderful!

Anyway, my question is, if you have a housekeeper, do you give her a key and let her clean while you are gone? Or do you hang around and watch the house while she cleans? I'm wary of handing over a key and my DH assumes I will stay around to make sure everything is taken care of. I, personally, think we will just get in the way and don't want to be hanging over the housekeeper's shoulders the entire time, either. I would love to be able to be out and about on the housekeepers regular day, not having to worry about staying home to watch her. I am nervous about both options, though.

What do you do?


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## Thalia (Apr 9, 2003)

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## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

When we first got our housekeeper, I was always home. Now that I know her and our schedule has changed a little, I leave the door open for her. I leave about 15 minutes before she comes to take my dd to therapy. When I come home 1.5 hours later, she is finishing up. So, she is there without me, but I don't have to leave a key.

Clear as mud?


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## Sisyphus (Mar 26, 2003)

For me, it depends on a couple of things.

First of all, are you hiring someone from a housekeeping company? If so they are bonded, insured and background checked *usually* (ask before hiring) and I am comfortable leaving them in the house alone (but I don't give them a key if I don't have to. I just work my schedule so I can be there to let them in and be home around the time they leave).

If you are hiring an individual, be sure to get references and run a background check. You can't be too careful. I'd NEVER, EVER give an individual a key to my house. EVER. You just don't know what could happen with it... their meth addicted neighbor's cousin could steal their keys and address book and somehow break into your house (it's happened... sounds far fetched, but, well... truth is stranger than fiction).

If you are not working outside the home, then there's really no reason to give them a key. Just tell them that they have to be there by XYZ time on XYZ days to be let into the house. Explain that you'll wait a certain amount of time (like 15 minutes) and after that, it's a crap shoot whether or not you'll be home. And if you aren't, they don't get paid. Then you work your schedule around that time. I always tried to get them to come first thing in the morning, that way, I could let them in, and we'd be around for the first half hour or so getting ourselves ready. We'd leave, then come back a few hours later when they were finishing up. It worked well for us.

Those are my thoughts. I hope that helps!


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## BookGoddess (Nov 6, 2005)

Over the years, I've hired several nice, hard-working women to clean my home but I've never given any of them a key to my house. It's just me. I don't give out keys to my home to anyone other than my parents/brother. I'm not so worried about the housekeeper stealing things. We don't have too many fancy electronic gadgets or pricey items. What I do worry about is stuff like the housekeeper forgetting to latch the outside gate thereby letting my dog get lost in the neighborhood, etc. Since I have a flexible work schedule that allows me to stay home on certain days I don't see a need to have a cleaning person come to my home when I'm not there.


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## MomToKandE (Mar 11, 2006)

Our service is a small business and they're bonded, insured, etc. I prefer to have them come when we're all at work/school/daycare. If we're home I feel like we're underfoot and in the way.


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## BusyMommy (Nov 20, 2001)

I leave the key out in a pre-arranged spot. I wouldn't like the idea of our key floating around someone else's house or car.


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