The everyday life of stay-at-home moms requires a spirit and readiness that many do not possess. No handbook is handed out, no rigid rules of the day, no set-in-stone schedules. This is a hands-on, learn-as-you-go position. Qualifications are many, patience and sense of humor mandatory.

Opinions vary regarding what would comprise of a realistic income for stay-at-home moms. There are many opinions about whether being a stay-at-home mom should be classified as employment, in part due to the absence of usual employment perks, such as vacations, benefits, and break-times. I, myself, hold the view that being a stay-at-home mom is a very real job. In many ways it is more demanding than any other job there is. The boss here is the little one, dictating through tears and howls or pulls at your clothing when it is time to eat, time to sleep, time to play. And this doesn’t get put on hold while managing the laundry, cleaning the house, paying bills, or doing any of the other duties affiliated with running a household. All those other obligations need to be juggled around the demands for attention, the diaper changes, the feedings, storytime, and doctor visits. The list could go on and on.

To the outsider unfamiliar with the inner workings, being a stay-at-home mom appears easy. But the mom at home knows the reality is quite the opposite. The discomfort and exasperation that a corporate woman would feel spending her days at home tending to children and household duties is most likely the same discomfort and exasperation a stay-at-home mom would feel functioning in the outside world, away from her children. Each being accustommed to the perks and demands of their particular station in life, not many would decide with full knowledge of the situation, to change places in a moment’s notice.

So here we are back to the main question. What is a realistic income for a stay at home mom? Lets see. When you are a stay at home mom there is no handing off a task to someone else to help you do or asking co workers what could be done to make it better. Instead, you are the main counsel. All decision get their final answer from you. There is no outside resources or getting permission from your supervisor or waiting for that important phone call from the major client. Instead all you do revolves around your children. What will they eat, what will they do today, who has practice or dance class, who has a doctors appointment or who has to go see the dentist.

Stay-at-home moms are miracle-workers by their own right. There are no clerks to make phone calls (to the doctor), no cleaning service that comes in and performs miracles after everyone else leaves. No catering service to tend to nutrition, no organization team. The innumerable roles in the outside world they fill in their seemingly large inner world would have to include plumber, maid, cook, banker, accountant, teacher, nursemaid, student, waitress, driver, nurse, and problem solver. Certainly, one can easily call to mind other roles as well. And in addition to all these talents and abilities, these same stay-at-home moms who do countless things each day change hats and become wives as well.

Our day as stay-at-home moms begins earlier than most jobs. The attire isn’t as luxourious, nor as expensive, but it sure is comfortable for the duties needing to be tended to in the long hours ahead. And that is to say, the duties that actually get performed. Prioritizing is our number one ability. And while there is no timeclock to punch when we begin, there isn’t any time to punch out either. Instead of sitting in traffic, we sit in waiting rooms at the doctor’s office. Next thing we know, much of what was on the to-do list isn’t done, but the hours of the day have evaporated somehow.

Perhaps some think it possible to perform typical job duties to enhance the income of the household while at home with children. However, the reality is that in all likelihood, the income that might be earned would be less than it would cost to pay another for childcare for the entire week. The time it would take to earn anything substantial while being a stay-at-home mom would hardly be worth it. Stay-at-home moms learn that five minutes to relax with a good cup of tea takes precedence over any amount of money they could earn in those sacred five minutes that come too seldom.

So what is a realistic income for a stay at home mom? To me is should be about 15,000 a year more or less depending how many kids you have. Sure we don’t have to spend money on 10 dollar lattes or 50 lunch plates. But are we not entitled to go out every once in a while and feel like we are more than just a mom. And get our nails and hair done and buy something special to make us feel like the woman we deserved to be seen as for we are the ones that are caring for our future doctors lawyers web site designers maybe even the next president who knows. All of us stay at home moms agree the best payment come from seeing our kids grow up everyday right before our very eyes. Knowing that we were the one that taught them how to walk and talk and be the tiny little person they are. But hey a salary wouldn’t hurt right? All those that agree let me hear you.