The Card Collector's Cleaning Lady Conundrum

[frankbmd]

What do we all have in common? We collect stuff. We look at our stuff. We organize our stuff. Some of us are probably in complete control of their "collecting" space at all times. But some of us are not myself included.

Without generalizing too much younger couples frequently clean their own abodes on variable schedules. However as we become more mature, too wealthy or just plain too old, our significant others demand the periodic assistance of a cleaning lady or ladies (except for those few who are regaled with full time maids and butlers).

The mix of the collector with the cleaning lady creates the conundrum.

Invariably before the cleaning ladies arrive, I feel compelled to marshal my resources and clean up my belongings before their arrival. If I don't, something I rely on gets "put away" or "discarded", and I cannot find it. I am not paranoid about theft in this situation, but still feel obliged to put away as much as I can back into drawers, boxes or storage.

When I look around before their arrival, everything looks fine and I wonder why we need the cleaning ladies in the first place. Interestingly my wife also preps the house for the cleaning crew.

The solution to this conundrum (for me at least) would be to hire new cleaning ladies on a regular basis and then fire them when they arrive for their first visit.
Problem solved.

I am not sharing this solution with my wife however.