Without a doubt Motherhood is one of the hardest jobs around and quite possibly one of the more thankless and taken for granted. Ironically the “job” of mothering may be the greatest teacher of management skills. Think about it; what other endeavor in life requires you to serve as cook, teacher, therapist, accountant, and nurse, among a slew of other professional titles.

How to Show You Care
KIDS — How to Show Mom You Care Everyday

Mother’s Day comes once a year, but little gestures that say “I love you,” are an important lesson in gratitude best learned early. Everyone has bad days, but you can show Mom you care:

Help with chores
Put away toys
Clean your room
Do your homework

HUSBANDS — Show Your Wife You Appreciate Her Hard Work

Your wife will likely seek support for her career and/or her job at home with the kids. How you respond makes all the difference in the world. You can show her how much she means:

Clean the kitchen after dinner
Help with the chores
Take the kids away for an afternoon
Do the grocery shopping or the laundry
Cook dinner
Take her out to a movie
Anything to help
Regardless of whether Mom works primarily in the home or both, a little appreciation for everything she does goes a long, long way.

Appreciation for the Stay-At-Home Mom
The stay-at-home Mom has a job that far surpasses the typical 40-hour a week gig. Imagine what would happen if after 40 hours Mom threw in the towel. What can you do to show your stay at home Mom you need and value her hard work?

Gratitude for Stay at Home Moms
Being a Mom is a Full Time Job
Thanks to a number of inquisitive sources the results are in on just what a stay at home mom would be paid if she were paid. It’s up over $100,000!

Her job skills include nurse, day care operator, financial accountant, manager and CEO, housekeeper and janitor, and cook, among a number of others. Salary.com suggests hat the average stay at home Mom works in excess of 90 hours a week without sick time or vacation days.

A stay at home mom can be considered a 24/7 job.

Consider this when you try to brainstorm ways to show Mom you appreciate all she does. She might like a few job perks and motivational “thank yous.”

Four Ways to Thank Mom
Plan frequent “days off” or vacations. Plan in advance to have a babysitter take over for the evening. Whisk your wife away to a nice dinner and a movie. Or hire a part-time housekeeper to alleviate some of the cleaning chores.
Congratulate Mom as you would a valued employee. The family wouldn’t make it without her.
Express gratitude. Thank Mom for her work around the home. Thank her every chance you get.
Help out around the house. Mom will notice your thoughtfulness when you take the initiative to clean your room, take the garbage out, do the laundry, walk the dog, and do your homework or any other necessary task.
The more you do to help Mom the more you realize what it takes to keep your family running smoothly.

The Balancing Act of the Working Mom
According to USA Today, more employees prefer managers that are mothers to those that are non-mothers. Why? Mothers have a finely honed patience, tolerance and compassion. They also know how to accurately manage their time and have integrated high-level interpersonal skills into their lives. Reward your working Mom in little ways for all she does, both at home and at work.

Appreciation for the Working Mom
Mom leaves for work in the morning, but not before she’s taken care to make sure kids have breakfast, are clothed and have lunch and school books ready.

When she arrives back home in the evening she’s already worked an 8-10 hour professional day. She puts on her Mom hat; cooks dinner, cleans up, helps kids with homework, maybe does the laundry, puts kids to bed and finishes her household chores. Hopefully somewhere in there Dad helps out.

Though for the most part, Mom shoulders a lot of the burden of the household. So for the Mom that chooses to hold onto a career the balancing act can become a bit overwhelming.

Three Ways to Show Mom that You Love Her

Lend a hand. Mom will be surprised to find you’ve cleaned your room or done your homework before she gets home from work. Maybe you can help with the laundry or start dinner for her. Help Mom with smaller kids and get family pets fed and cared for. Listen to Mom. Mom has problems, too. She has bad days and sometimes needs a caring ear. Ask her what she does at work. Ask her if she had a good day.
Affirm Mom’s dual role. Working Mom’s often feel as though they are neglecting one or both of their roles. Make sure you verbally support Mom. Show her you value her work at home and that you respect her for her job as well.
Value of a Working Mom
Salary.com recently took a stab at theorizing the monetary value of a working Mom. The report not only concluded that outside the home a Mom works on the average of 50 hours a week, but that her all around duties as mother included janitor, driver, housekeeper, day care, psychologist, cook, computer operator, and CEO among a few others. This all adds up to an annual theoretical salary of over $85,000 and that’s just for the at-home part of the working Mom’s work.

This is all a best-case scenario. Working Moms are often besieged by an array of other factors that all wreak havoc with her personal time, energy and self-esteem. Children may have special needs, she may be a solitary caregiver or have multiple children.

Motherhood Transcends Job Duty
What is a definite is that Motherhood precludes all other things in life. It seems that no matter how tired or stressed-out Mom is after a day in the office, she instantly and instinctually migrates back into her at-home role as chief caregiver.