Don't Pay Me

Recently, Salary.com released research that the average stay-at-home mom would earn $138,095 per year based on the work that she does. That work includes housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO, and psychologist. The findings state that the average mom puts in 92 hours per week completing those jobs.

What a bunch of crap.

I have only been doing this for nearly two years but there is no way I spend 92 hours a week as a stay-at-home dad. Fifty - maybe. Sixty - doubtful. Why? Because my wife does not work 90 hours each week. When she comes home in the evening my "stay-at-home" status is over. At that point, I am just a dad and a husband. Sure, I may continue to fix dinner and clean the kitchen and feed the kids and help with giving baths. But I am no longer doing it alone. As a matter of fact, most evenings it is Chick that does most of the parenting. Not just because I need a break - and I know there are plenty of stay-at-home parents out there who can't wait to hand-off the kids - but because it gives her a chance to spend some time with the kids.

I understand that for many years in our society the role of the stay-at-home mother has been greatly over-looked. Making people aware of the challenges of the stay-at-home mother was an important factor in helping to establish equality between men and women. It was not that long ago when child rearing was completely up to the mother. Many of our father's and grandfather's rarely, if ever, changed a diaper. But those days are behind us. Today, for the most part, the working parents are very involved with the lives of the children. It would be difficult to find a modern-day dad that does not change diapers or give baths or wake up for middle of the night bottles. How much should they be paid?

Recently, Similac has announced that they are having a contest in which they will be giving away $135K to the mom that sends in the best photo of her favorite 'mom-job'. I don't think I will be sending in an entry as I am not eligible. Ironically, Similac should be marketed towards someone like me as the only thing a dad can't do that a mom can is breastfeed. But for $135,000, we just might figure out a way to do that too!