Mom
should make bank, thank her this Sunday
Jennifer
Frehn
Just in time for Mother’s Day, a report released May 3 stated if stay-at-home
moms were paid for the work they do, their yearly salary would amount to just
over $134,000. Similarly, if working mothers received compensation for the
work they do at home, they would earn $85,000 in addition to their annual wages.
The report’s figures, completed by the compensation experts at Salary.com,
were based on the earning power of the 10 jobs that most closely make up a
mother’s duties: housekeeper, day-care teacher, cook, computer operator,
laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive
and psychologist. I don’t know about you, but I am thankful my mother
does not charge me for all those services.
As a child I did not easily recognize just how amazing my mother is and just
how much she does. I would take for granted the fact she made the family dinner,
my clothes were always washed, she drove my brothers and me where we needed
to go and she made sure we had everything we needed to be healthy and, for
the most part, happy.
As I became older I began to see there were costs to the health and happiness
my brothers and I enjoyed. For every selfless decision my mother has made in
our best interests instead of hers, she received less rest, spent less money
on herself and ultimately received more gray hair. I wish I could go back in
time and take back every selfish act I did to make her job harder and that
every child could see how his or her behavior can help or hurt that process.
It seems children in society today are not getting any more appreciative of
their mothers. The MTV show “Sweet Sixteen” gives examples of spoiled
teen girls who, instead of getting a BMW for their birthdays, just need to
be slapped. The show will follow a girl and her parents around as she plans
the ultimate Sweet 16 birthday party on her parents’ never-ending credit
line.
In the process, the girl is shown to be the brat she is, but will ultimately
get her way and have the fabulous party in the end.
The disrespect the girls show to their mothers on this show is shocking. One
episode featured a girl who actually told her mother to sit down and shut up.
The kicker? Her mother obeyed!
While most mothers I know would not tolerate that kind of behavior, this same
disrespect still goes on in families where money does not grown on trees. Go
to any department store in America and sit in the waiting area by the dressing
rooms.
Without a doubt, you will hear many examples of girls exasperated with their
mothers, disrespecting them left and right.
Most of us can probably think of a time when we said or did something to our
mother we wish we could take back. While we are not able to turn back time,
we are able to show appreciation in the future for all the sacrifices our mothers
have made for us.
This Mother’s Day, don’t just send a card with a message someone
else wrote. Call or write your mom (or the motherly figure in your life) and
tell her exactly what positive impact she has had on you throughout the years.
It may not be $134,000, but your “thank you” could make it worth
that much or more to your mother in her eyes.
Jennifer Frehn is a senior journalism major and a copy editor for the Daily
Forty-Niner.
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