Managing Motherhood: Here's Your Paycheck

Job Available: Long hours, no pay, excellent benefits

What job is this, you ask? Why it's motherhood!

I was comparing the costs of various preschools and childcare providers one day and started wondering, if there was such a thing as a paycheck for mothering, what would our salary be?

And I realize that motherhood is not something you go into like you would go into computer science or software engineering or any other occupation. It's a labor of love and more rewarding than any job you'll ever have. But that said, I was still curious to find out if anyone has ever tried to quantify what it is we do.

According to a survery by Salary.com, "the typical stay-at-home mom works almost 97 hours a week, spending 13.2 hours as a day-care teacher; 3.9 hours as household CEO; 7.6 hours as a psychologist; 14.1 hours as a chef; 15.4 as a housekeeper; 6.6 hours doing laundry; 9.5 hours as a PC-or-Mac operator; 10.7 hours as a facilities manager; 7.8 hours as a janitor and 7.8 hours driving the family [car]." (Forbes.com)

So, what does this all add up to in dollars and cents? Are we on par with a teacher salary perhaps? A nurse or a receptionist?

Nope.

Salary.com tallied a mom's annual wages at: $115,000! Move over lawyer, doctor and engineer. Mom power!

OK, so maybe that gave me a little too much validation...but it feels good to hear that, doesn't it moms?

To read more about it, check out this link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2011/05/02/why-stay-at-home-moms-should-earn-a-115000-salary/