Women's Work

Another Hat Tip to Denise at eight is enough. Below is an excerpt from her post on modern motherhood. Please don't stop there. Go, read the post in its entirety. You won't be sorry!

"If we must compare Women's Work of housekeeping and child-rearing to the Marketplace, we see that it is an uneven match. The Marketplace can't possibly compete.
In the first place, Women's Work is a parallel universe, far above and beyond the feverishly grasping Marketplace, so that comparisons in wage-earning value can't even be seriously considered. You see, the spiritual fortitude and superhuman commitment to the family that a wife and mother displays are beyond the compensatory ability of the Marketplace, and always has been. Certainly a Woman's Work is highly valuable, even in monetary standards. You try to hire a nanny/nurse/maid/governess/ tutor/cook/laundress/chauffeur/gardener, etc. to be on call 24/7! I would be very surprised if the wage-earner of the house could afford it. The Woman's Work would unarguably be worth a great deal of money.
Be that as it may, no woman would accept a salary for what she considers a higher calling. It would be like offering to pay your mother for giving birth to you. Or offering to pay your wife for lovemaking. It would be an insult. There is no adequate monetary reimbursement for Women's Work. All she hopes for in return is nothing more and nothing less than love. Often she realizes she won't receive her heart's desire, but she never gives up hope. Her work is a lifelong commitment, which she understands may not bear fruit until long after she has passed on. Of course ultimately, her Work is her Cross which she shares with One Person, offers to Three, and for which she will be duly rewarded in Eternity."