Katie Katie Parsons is the creator of Mumbling Mommy and is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist. She works from her home office on the east coast of Florida. Most often she writes about life in a combined family of five children and what it's like being a full time work-from-home parent. Feel free to pitch guest post ideas or just drop her a line at katie@mumblingmommy.com.

Mommy wars, schmommy wars. We know all moms work hard. Whether a mom spends her days at home or in the office, she logs long hours and probably isn’t paid nearly well enough – if at all – for her tremendous efforts. That’s what was so sad last week about pundit Hilary Rosen’s snipey comment regarding stay-at-home mom Ann Romney, wife of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

Smiling on the job

To get an idea of what moms really do, take a look at salary.com’s calculation of a mother’s net worth. This site annually surveys moms to determine what tasks they perform in the home and how many hours they put in each week, and they calculate a salary based on the going rate of pay for each task. They have separate salaries for both stay-at-home moms and working moms. They claim moms at home would earn nearly $113,000 if they were, well, actually paid.

The site says a mom’s job description includes roles like housekeeper, laundry operator, van driver, psychologist, cook, and day care teacher, but I think a few things are missing. I wonder how much more I could theoretically earn with these additional tasks figured into my salary:

 

1.   Sanitation engineer. If you’ve got kids, you’ve got vomit and all things potty-related. If you’ve got pets as well, you’ve got double the vomit and potty duties.

2.   Exterminator. An annual spring ant migration seems to run directly through our house. Time to set out the ant bait. Now if only there were legal ways to get rid of the squirrels who pilfer my tomato plants every summer.

 

3.   Landscape architect and gardener. Those bushes and flowers in the front yard are the fruit of my labor, as is the squirrel-terrorized vegetable patch in the back yard.

 

4.   Animal obedience trainer. For our cat who likes to steal food off the kitchen counter when we aren’t looking.

 

5.   Professional shopper. Those groceries don’t magically appear in the pantry and fridge, nor do the children’s clothes materialize in their closets each time they move up a size.

 

6.   Nutritionist. Because healthy groceries don’t magically appear in the pantry and fridge.

 

7.   Interior designer. Many a window and wall would be bare without a mother’s thoughtful touch.

 

8.   Seamstress. Because moms sew a lot of buttons.

 

9.   Photographer. Each mom knows her children are more adorable than everyone else’s.

 

10.  Tutor. A child who knows her alphabet and numbers likely got a head start with her mother’s help.

 

11.  Teacher’s aide. For those days spent volunteering in your children’s school classrooms.

 

I’m sure the list is still incomplete. What other jobs do moms do?

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Category: Moms

Tags: jobs