So, as you may or may not know – I’ve done my time as a working mama – in the corporate world, away from the kids – with my partner being the full-time Stay at Home Dad (SAHD) – changing the nappies, doing the shopping, doing the cooking – you know, the stuff that usually falls to the Mum in the household – not wanting to be toooooo gender specific!
All that changed about three years ago, when my partner, husband and man of my (working-mama) dreams went and got himself a job that took him away from the home and our house (and all that THAT entailed as a SAHD). He lived in another house, another home, for four out of seven nights, and we had to really rethink our family strategy.
So, I shifted my hours, and became that person who re-heats her coffee in the microwave, and works the ‘night shift’ to fit in all of the mama stuff around my kids – from cooking their meals (and encouraging them to help every other night) to stacking (and unstacking) the dishwasher – lots of these jobs we shared between us (under some duress) however, it really did make me appreciate how Mums (and Dads, obvs.) really are superheroes and their efforts and commitment to the family should be universally appreciated. Being a parent is a full time job, on top of our careers. So this begs the question, what is your ‘mum salary’?
Well, I’ve found a really fun questionnaire* (click here) for you to have a go at playing with… Simply, enter the weekly hours for each of your motherly (or fatherly) duties to find out what your ‘mum salary’ is. (not sure who is going to PAY your mum salary, perhaps we can deduct it from our child’s first pay packet, a sort-of-student-loan? That would work? right?!
Whether you are a stay-at-home mum or dad, or out working each day, the contribution you make to your family is invaluable.
Written in association with *SunLife who have calculated our ‘Mum Salaries’ based on average salaries for a range of different occupations that mums’ and dads’ daily duties are most like.
Photo credit: Steinar La Engeland