Sarah Breen: There were three of us in this marriage - me, my husband and the cleaner

"This month marks one year since my cleaner quit. When she handed back her front door key, my first instinct was to text my neighbourhood WhatsApp group to beg for a new recommendation. But something stopped me. It was the middle of May. The big blousy pink peony in my garden was in full bloom."

"The whole summer was yawning out in front of me. Buoyed by the prospect of long bright evenings, I thought to myself, could I clean my own house?"

A cleaner leaving forces a decision about maintaining a home without outside help. After receiving the front door key back, the immediate reaction is to seek a replacement through a neighbourhood WhatsApp group. The timing feels different in mid-May, with a garden peony blooming and summer approaching. The anticipation of long bright evenings creates motivation to try cleaning independently. The question shifts from finding someone else to managing the house personally, using seasonal optimism as encouragement to begin cleaning on one’s own.

Read at Independent