Under Pressure

After many months (years) of trying to be everything to everyone, I've decided to have a maid service come clean my house every other week. I can only imagine my mother-in-law's reaction when my son let it slip that a cleaning service was coming tomorrow morning. The woman is obsessed with cleaning. We have literally awoken to the sound of a vacuum cleaner at five f-ing o'clock in the morning when we've stayed with her. Her carpets look as if they've been raked so the pyle is uniform in the same direction. My son used to love cleaning and vacuuming when he was 2 years old (an obsession he quickly outgrew). I told my husband it was as if his mother and my father's prayers to the Gods of Tidiness were answered. (Footnote: My son has recently developed a random fear of vacuums. Perhaps it would help if I pulled it out more than once a month..)