It's a Job!

Whether you stay at home or work a job outside the home (or from home, in fact!) keeping house is a job.  Your family "employs" you to get the work done, by tacit agreement.  Whether this is being read by a man, woman or both, maintaining a home's cleanliness should be considered a full time job.


Let's face it.  Some people get paid to do the work you do for free.  In fact, an analysis by Mint.com  showed the relative value of the homemaker - what a person might get paid if they were doing all of the jobs a homemaker does.  It's upwards of $90,000, if you believe it.  However, society doesn't see the same value. 

The lack of respect for stay at home parents is evidenced by the question we're all inevitably asked at some point in our adult lives: "So, what do you do?"  Well, it's not the question which expresses the lack of respect.  It's the reaction when you tell a person that you are a stay at home parent, or worse, a homemaker whose kids have gone to school or are grown.  Matt Walsh wrote a frank and honest post about these kinds of questions when they are aimed at his wife.   His post was quite controversial, actually, drawing fire from both sides of the fence.  He basically defended his wife - stating that yes, she works as a stay at home mom, and her work is very valuable to their family. 

Your personal value rests not in what you do or don't bring home monetarily.  You are valuable to your family because you are YOU.  You are parent, safety and love.  Your value is not dependent on what work you do.  Whether you are a domestic goddess or a cleaning challenged mortal, the contributions you make to your home are bonuses - but not the whole story.

The planning, the work and effort you put into creating a warm, inviting place for your family to rest away from the world's cares does have value.  You'd have to pay someone else to do the same thing for your family, right? 

I've come to believe I must treat housekeeping as a job.  Parenting may be my main job, but housekeeping is the one that takes the most time these days.  If I'm going to do the job, I want to do it to the best of my abilities- I'm blessing my family with each task I complete.  Since I consider it my job, I take responsibility for the work that needs doing.  True, sometimes I delegate that work to some deserving family member.  But I do acknowledge that in the end, it's my responsibility to see it gets done.

Duty, responsibility, blessing....My value rests not in what I do or don't do around the house, any more than it rests on what I may or may not bring home monetarily.  I am valuable, as are you, simply because I am.  I deserve dignity no matter what my job is.  Don't let someone else's bad attitude towards homemaking keep you from believing in your own worth and dignity.  You are important in this world.