Here we go again. It's the yearly assessment of housewive's imaginary "salaries":
Stay-at-home mother's work worth $138,095 a year
Don't get me wrong. I have the greatest respect for parents. But this sort of study pisses me off for a number of reasons:
1. Hello. Ever heard of a guy called a DAD? And yes, some of them actually stay at home while the wife works. Heck, some of them don't have a wife bringing in the bacon. A guy I'm dating will have his kid living with him all summer. He's divorced. He doesn't have a new wife. Who's taking care of that kid for the entire summer? Him, and no-one else. Do we see his "salary" added up anywhere? No, and that's not fair.
2. Do all moms work that hard? Sorry, but no. Would you like to meet the welfare mom who got kicked out of our apartment building in March? I'm not saying all welfare moms are like her, but this particular gal was a lazy slob who was perfectly fit, healthy, and young, and spent all her days hanging out with her boyfriend while her neglected kid ran around the complex leaving his toys everywhere for other people to trip and fall on.
3. Here are the 10 jobs that comprise a mother's work, according to the report:
housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and psychologist
First off, this list is utterly ridiculous. Computer operator? CEO? Gimme a break.
As a single woman, I also serve as housekeeper, cook, "van driver," facilities manager, janitor (um, isn't this the same thing as housekeeper?), computer operator, chief executive officer...and heck, even a shrink (to all my friends who call me on the phone for advice).
I'm not saying it's easy to be a mom. But you know what? The idea of staying home with the kids while a partner goes out and deals with bringing in the money sounds a heck of a lot easier than being single and starting up a business on your own.
Kids can be a handful, I know. But for pete's sake, if you have a husband bringing in the money, and all you need to do is take care of one or two kids and keep a house clean...please, stop whining to the rest of us about how hard your life is.
I respect good mothers. Just don't try to tell me that you should get a special dispensation for the choice you made to have children. I'm sure the moms out there would be the first to say that the benefits of children far outweigh any drawbacks.
So why the need to put a monetary value on that? Housework is just housework. We all need to do it, kids or no.
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