I learned very quickly in my marriage never to ask the question, “So what did you do ALL day?” Inherent in that statement, I was somehow communicating to Christina, who is a domestic engineer (translation = stay-at-home mom), that she does nothing.
I still remember the first time I watched all the kids for a portion of the day and feeling exhausted and depleted. It was after this experience that awakened me to the fact that only the strong of heart can really be a stay-at-home mom or dad for that matter.
It is easy to think that my job or responsibilities as a pastor are harder than Christina’s but I am coming to the conclusion that she might have the harder job.
This is why it was fascinating to read an article titled, “Mother’s Love Worth $117,000 Per Year, Study Says.”
A study done by Salary.com, calculated a mother’s market value. Hmm… that is a good question. How much should a mom be compensated for all that she does?
In this study, the firm studied the pay levels of 10 job titles and then compared them to all the duties that accompany what a typical mom performs in terms of her duties. It ranged from a housekeeper, a day care center teacher, van driver, psychologist and even to a chief executive officer.
They found out that if a stay-at-home mom could be compensated just purely in dollars, then she would be making close to $117,000/year! It is estimated that a domestic engineer works an average of 94.4 hours per week and the reality is that she does not get paid with dollars, but with personal satisfaction and love.
You can read the full article here.
This made me think a lot about Christina and how thankful I am for her. With a woman of her potential, she willingly chose to be a stay-at-home mom. She saw the precious years of the children as time that will never return; therefore she saw her “job” as investing in the children by staying at home.
I know that when I write or talk about these kinds of things, I get a lot of women (and even men), who with a liberated mind would say that she is limiting herself and that she has bought into this “conservative/rightwing/narrow-minded/women hating/oppressive” perspective. To them, I simply don’t know what to say. Maybe they need to be educated that there are many, “liberal/leftwing/open-minded/women loving/liberated” people who are making some of the same choices.
The bottom line is that I really honor and respect all the stay-at-home moms because your job is a difficult one and when you do it with grace and love, it is truly inspiring. Even for the single moms who “have” to work to support the family, you are worthy of a double honor.