HOMEMAKER b. 1970🎶

January 10, 2022

Dear Reader,

Yesterday a new label hit me smack in the face so I’m going to own it. Here it is. Yesterday I became officially employed as a Homemaker. That’s right. For the first time ever I am being paid by the hour to do what I’ve been doing for free since 2002. It kind of blows my woman-mind if I’m being completely honest. I am now a bona fide homemaker because my new employer informed me that was my job title. Yesterday a home care service representative sat at my dining room table with a folder full of paperwork and hired me on to be a homemaker in my own home for 10 hours per week. I have a time sheet to submit in person on the 15th and 30th of every month and a fancy app on my phone so that I can punch in three days a week at two o’clock in the afternoon. One of my own children is going to have to sign my timesheets. I think that’s incredibly awkward, but it is what it is. I’m doing the job whether they sign my timesheet or not.

Here are the assigned tasks on my time sheet. I’m going to put a * next to the tasks that I’ve already performed this morning since I’m writing this first thing.

Dishwashing *

Dusting & Vacuuming

Sweeping & Mopping

Bed Making *

Trash Removing *

Laundry *

Shopping

Meal Preparation *

I’m not clocking my Homemaker hours today though. Tuesday is not one of my paid days. I am only paid for three hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and four hours on Friday afternoons. Mind you, I am already a full time Homemaker, so I’m getting paid for only a fraction of the time I actually perform my job. The thing is that Colorado’s medicaid system will only authorize 10 hours of homemaking even though full time homemaking is needed. And get this, I’m making less than minimum wage. $16.50/hour is what I’m being paid to stay home and work. I’m checking into whether or not I can be bumped up so that I’m at least equal to the other lowest paid workers in Denver, Colorado where the minimum wage was just raised by 8.94%. So the other lowest paid workers in Denver are making 79 cents more than I am. This makes me feel sad and angry for homemakers and children on so many levels, but I’m choosing to focus on the happy because I am, in fact, a Happy Homemaker.

Do you want to know what makes me really happy? Taking care of my family. Plus I saw one of my kids walk out of the house wearing a shirt that said the word love on the front and on the back. And I saw my other kid wearing a shirt with a happy face on it. That is plenty payment for me.

It’s a rich man’s game. No matter what they call it.

Honestly🎶

Lisa Rudofsky-Taintlinson ❔❕

P.S. How do you pronounce eggs?

Published by StuckInMyBra

Above all else, I am a mother. I've been told by my closest friends that I am a fighter, but I actually roll my eyes at that part of my identity because I really don't enjoy fighting. I'm just good at it for the most part. The thing is, I write about whatever is on my mind, which appears to be a big mess sometimes. I mostly think about my kids and the people they are and how to help them become who they want to be in this world. I love them more than anything in this world. Sometimes I write about giftedness, autism, trauma, schools, mental health and chronic illness because those are all things that affect me. In the past I have written about deaf issues because it has been a bit part of my motherhood. I write about my own life and the people in it and I try not to hurt people's feelings in the writing process. I hope what I write touches peoples hearts and opens people’s minds because I think people in our world need to have more understanding and compassion. I tell it like it is. Read on. View more posts