I've Got it Made

I mean, I've got a maid. Well, I might have a maid. We're in a trial week to see how we like her and she can see how she likes us. I am definitely enjoying it but it also is a little uncomfortable. It probably sounds crazy to anyone else for me to be anywhere other than in heaven with this, but here's the dilemma as I see it...

First, it's difficult to discern what a good wage is for them. We had heard one price (lower) before we got here and now we're hearing differently from some people, but not others. I want to pay someone fairly and higher rather than lower to keep them happy and honest, but I need to feel like it's worth it/I want to fit it into my budget.

Second, providing housing for the maid (we have a *tiny* maid's quarters behind our garage) is worth a lot to them; i.e. pay for a part-time maid is only slightly higher than having a ful-time maid who lives with you. So having the maid live with you seems obviously a better deal, right?

(Third) But that's the part I'm uncomfortable with. When the maid lives with you, you basically become completely responsible for them in the eyes of the law here. And I would feel that way as well. I would be providing all of their income, which means all of their sustanance. Maybe it shouldn't, but that is something I'm not comfortable with when I'm providing such a low wage. I know it's not low compared to other maids, but I just can't wrap my head around it. Get over it and go with it, I know, but I don't seem to be able to. It's totally stressing me out.

Fourth, the hard part about having someone live with me is that I want them to be happy/pleasant to have around and unintrusive in my life. So far this maid began by being pretty chatty and felt free to let me know everything I needed for my home; i.e. you need a shelf here, you need a basket there, you need, you need, you need. On the second day, I let her know that we do not have all of our belongings here (neither of our shipments have arrived yet) so I know our home does not have everything we need to be completely convenient and organized yet and, most importantly, that I know what I need for my home and don't need her to tell me. After that, her demeanor changed and she seems to be sulking. I don't like the feeling it's giving me when she's around.

I need someone who is going to take direction and be compliant with cleaning my home exactly the way I want it cleaned. I understand she is older and has been cleaning for a long time and thus probably feels like she knows how to do these things better than I do, but that doesn't matter to me. I am paying someone to clean my home the way I want it done. If I am going to get pushback all the time, I don't want her.

So, it should be obvious, right? Just try a different maid. This just isn't the one for us. But, good maids seem to be hard to find. I've heard she was quite good and I didn't like the other one we've tried. This house is so big that I don't want to be without help, but it may have to just be that way for a while. Its just so hard to be able to immediately have the level of trust you need with someone to bring them into your home every day, but how do you get to know them and trust them without doing just that? Go with a referral. But no one seemed to have anyone until my neighbor recommended her. We'll see. Today is the last day of our trial and I'm going to see if she will do one more week of part-time to give us more time to think on what we want and evaluate her.