cleversod - we all have different ideas of what perfect is and we also all have different circumstances to deal with.
Who is right - the one who works full-time, comes home and cleans, cooks etc and misses out on life and thier family pleasures or the one who takes control and says I don't want to time manage and fit my children around my life and chores and does away with the chores, by getting a cleaner, to spend time with them. I know what I would opt for.
My mother taught me .... that the dust will still be there tomorrow, but your children won't be. My mother died at 42 - did it matter whether her house was 'perfect' or did it matter that she spent her time with me and that I now have wonderful memories and think of her every day.
Sorry to get so heavy, but we are made to feel so guilty if we are not superwomen. We have lives and it is about time we realised this.
I work too many hours (which I also feel guilty about) and I wish I could justify it (to myself) to go and get a cleaner.