Sunday, November 11, 2007

Do I need a W2 for this?
At the beginning of May this year, Salary.com came out with an update for the valuation of a Stay At Home Mom's job. It was determined that Stay At Home Moms perform 1o typical jobs (house keeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, etc) that would equate to an annual salary of $138, 095.

Recently, I've been thinking about what my "paycheck" would be if I got paid to stay at home. I honestly think I would be on the highest end of the earning scale based on all of the insurance & lawsuit situations that I've been working on. My house is certainly not the cleanest with Logan throwing food on the floor at every meal, Buddha & Kitty shedding hair all over in the computer room & Bill never picking up after himself, but I do a whole lot more than just cleaning. I've decided to make a list of all of the jobs that I do (daily or not) for those who "wonder what I do all day long".

  • Nutritionist - Developing balanced meal plans for Logan, regardless is he eats it or not. Reading nutrition labels making sure meals are allergen-free.
  • Cook - Making said meal plans.
  • Personal Trainer - Not only training clients (one-on-one or through cyber-training) but making sure Logan gets some physical activity every day as well.
  • Board Member of Non-Profit Organization - Planning meetings, organizing functions, overseeing co-ops.
  • Health & Fitness Writer - Keeping my mind sharp & up to date on the latest fitness trends.
  • Computer Operator - Maintaining both blogs & taking care of emails.
  • House Keeper - Doing 98% of the house work.
  • Family Cab Driver - Driving Bill to & from work, taking Logan out for playgroups & other activities.
  • Insurance Billing Accountant - Continually keeping our insurance coverage situation straightened out.
  • Paralegal/Attorney - Researching information & filing multiple lawsuits.
  • Nurse/Health Care Specialist - Researching information on vaccinations & food allergies, removing foreign objects from Logan's nose & taking care of his personal care needs.
  • Day Care Teacher - Playing games with Logan, reading to him, coloring & making sure he gets social interaction with other kids.
  • Psychologist - Teaching Logan good behavioral techniques to reduce temper tantrums & dealing with Bill's family.
  • Financial Planner/Family CFO - Paying all of the bills & maintaining the budget, finding cost-cutting spending solutions.
  • Photographer - Being diligent on taking Logan's pictures.
  • Hair Stylist- Cutting Logan's hair as Bill is now banned from even touching the boys head.
This is what I came up with on the spot, off the top of my head. I'm sure I'm missing a few odd jobs here & there. Clearly, if I got paid for "what I do all day long", we would be rich. Not just rich, but filthy rich.

5 comments:

Emmakirst said...

Well said, I wish we could get paid for everything we do around the house/for the kids, etc!

As I said in one of my recent posts, I think I worked less at work, then home with the 4 children.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. So, if I do all of those things (with the exception of driving my husband to work) *amd* work a full time job, what would my salary be?

I am *so* not trying to be snarky, and I hope that didn't come across as such, but with DH working evenings/nights 6 days a week, I am responsible for ALL of the household stuff and ALL of the childcare stuff (after school and weekends, of course) and all of the other stuff you mentioned. I should be a millionaire!

Kristin said...

I didn't work the numbers on SAHM vs WM salaries, but the article stated that SAHM would "make" $134, 121 while WM would make $85, 876 for their "mom job" portion on top of their actual "work job" salary.

Working moms were found to sacrifice more sleep & personal care (working out, skipping lunches, etc) & had longer "total working hours".

It all sounds exhausting to me!

Dawn @ Bent, not broken said...

Cheers to the SAHM and working moms!!! It doesn't matter..BOTH have it tough. No contest. And I guess I better not forget to the SAHD too! lol (my brother is one and he and I had alot to talk about the other day to say the least). It was kind of neat.

Anonymous said...

That's so interesting! I've never thought of pricing out my duties like that. I think you've started something...