Stay-At-Home.....Moms

Right around the time of Mother's Day, Salary.com released an article that told what they had concluded a Stay-At-Home Mom would make in 2007.....if she were to receive a paycheck. They based the salary on the hours per week that a stay-at-home mom spends on the following jobs: housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO and psychologist.
I went to Salary.com and was able to personalize my own salary based on the ages of my children and where I live. They concluded that I would be paid $152,896. I have to admit that I am smiling as I sit here and type this. I feel proud and validated. It's nice to know that people understand and acknowledge the amount of work that it takes to stay at home and take care of your house and family.
Now, if only I could remember how valuable I am. I know that the sacrifices that I am making and the time and energy that I am putting into raising my family is monumentally important, but sometimes it's so hard. The money is tight, sooooo tight on one income, the job is never ending and I get so overwhelmed. I feel like I'm not doing a good enough job. I feel like I should be better, more patient, more focused, more organized, more everything. But it's so hard and soon I realize that I've started just going through the motions, letting the days "happen" to me, getting caught up in the schedules and activities and errands. And just when I've had all I can take, I have a morning like I did today.
I made a point to really slow it down for the girls and I this morning. And after we hung out at the pool for awhile, we came home, had a nutritious lunch together and then we just chilled. And during that down time, I got to dance with my daughters, take pictures of them holding hands and spinning, spend time talking while together we cleaned up the play room and just "be" with them.
I forget, all too often, that being a stay-at-home mom isn't always about all the different jobs I do and the checks on my to-do list. But more often it should be about the time, the down time, the quality time, the once in a lifetime, that I get to spend with my kids.


Check out http://www.mom.salary.com/