Envision holding a position that has no beginning or no ending hours. No predictability, and very little in the way of routine. A job that often is not very structured, and it's primary qualifications are readiness, flexibility, awareness, and stamina. For stay-at-home moms, this is their daily life.
Because job perks given here are very different than those handed out in the working world, some consider being stay-at-home moms not to be real professions. However, although there are no usual benefits, who can determine the value of a hug shared between a mother and child? Studies show that 8-11 hugs per day can astonishingly benefit one's physical and mental health. Yes, the demands are high, and require a level of selflessness that is not so much incorporated into the world outside the home. And though there is no hierchery of managers and vice presidents or presidents in this employment, there is a pecking order to the situation. The steadfast rule is the smallest human being rules the roost. And along with the tending to the child, multitudes of other responsibilities are handled as well.
So still think its a easy job and anyone can do it. Guarantee take a corporate woman so use to hanging out with her friends at lunch and taking coffee breaks and enjoying her little chats with her co-workers and put her to stay at home with her kids for one day and she will go back to her office running. This is not a job for the weak or as I like to say quick quitter. This is a lifetime position.
Before we can begin to consider a realistic income for stay-at-home moms, let's consider a few more of the realities of the position. What gets done or doesn't get done, remains in place into the following day. This is a one-woman operation! All decisions rest on mom, severely guided by the little ones. There is no one to ask for a day off, or to request early leave. Everything revolves around the care and needs of the children.
Stay-at-home moms really provide services performed in a multitude of other professions outside the home. From housekeeper, to problem-solver, through cook, hairdresser, waitress, banker, accountant, handyman, the list of services provided are endless. And add on top of all these, the role of wife. In many ways, it's a hands-on learning experience. And each day brings it's own unique set of experiences from which to learn.
In comparison, clock-punching might seem much better to some people. Stay-at-home moms have no set hours, everyday is a deadline, and the attire for the position isn't from some expensive designer. Half of what is planned never gets done, at least not today, perhaps tomorrow. But for those who delight in this life opportunity, the clothing is comfortable, practical, and the hours are time well spent.
Perhaps some think it possible to perform typical job duties to enhance the income of the household while at home with children. However, the reality is that in all likelihood, the income that might be earned would be less than it would cost to pay another for childcare for the entire week. The time it would take to earn anything substantial while being a stay-at-home mom would hardly be worth it. Stay-at-home moms learn that five minutes to relax with a good cup of tea takes precedence over any amount of money they could earn in those sacred five minutes that come too seldom.
In my opinion, about $15,000 per year, or more, depending on the number of children at home, would be somewhat of a realistic income for a stay-at-home mom. Some may argue, finding this amount to be too excessive. But even moms like to feel pampered from time to time, to be tended to, rather than always performing the tending. We like to smell nice and maybe even get a very rare afternoon to have lunch with the girls. We have to feel good about ourselves in order to do the fantastic job we do, rearing the world's future generation. Of course, the best form of payment is the daily kind: watching our kids grow, and being there with them, every step of the way. But still, a bit of monetary recognition wouldn't hurt either. Let's hear from all the stay-at-home moms and those who love them who agree.
