Hi LWGers! I miss you all! In fact, I really miss blogging in general. It is hard work keeping up with a mobile (read: nearly walking and getting into EVERYTHING) baby.
This cute little face definitely eats into my blogging time. Get it? Eats in? Oh, I kill me.
How is everyone doing, both financially and personally in this new year?
I know I don't blog as much as I would like, but I actually did over on my mom blog, Mama Mahvelous, and it combines both my love of personal finance and talking about parenthood, so I figured I'd pass it along.
You are probably aware that after careful consideration and over a year of saving, I made the decision to stay at home with my beloved Baby C. After a few months, I realized it looked nothing like any of the "Real Housewives" life (I mean, seriously - how did they come up with that title?!) and it was very hard and demanding work. I came across this article that tries to put a monetary value on the duties of a stay at home parent, and it equals a salary to more than $96,000 per year. But even as a stay at home parent, I felt a little conflicted. Are my skills really up to par with a counselor, a professional chef, a housekeeper, and a nurse? Outside of my own head, probably not. What about the parents that work full-time and still come home to a house that needs to be cleaned, dinner that needs to be made and laundry that needs to be folded? Anyway, it's a subject that I find fascinating - trying to assign a salary to a parent who stays home. To me, it's a priceless opportunity and I truly cherish being home, even when I have bad days. I'm heading back to school in August, so my time is limited and I'm squeezing it for all it's worth.
Read more over here.
But what do you think? Do you think you could (or should) put a salary on being a stay at home parent? Or do you think people are just trying to feel valued in a society that is career oriented?
