Parenting for Pay – On Balance
It turns out that other parents who are either too busy or too inept will pay dearly for our child-rearing talents. And I’m not talking about the drudgery of working twelve hour days as a nanny or baby nurse. I mean becoming highly compensated Child Life Specialists who are taking over the intimate, mundane responsibilities that are no longer the sacred purview of parents.
Everybody’s got to have a niche. Some of the consulting gigs suggested include, professional potty trainer (ick!) and parenting coordinator (kind of like a referee in a wrestling match between feuding ex’s). One of the comments suggested:
Relaxation Coordinator
Are your kids too stressed out from all their various activities and lessons? Would you like to spend quality downtime with them, but instead find yourself dragging them along for various errands and social obligations? For a mere $80 per 1.5 hr session, I will come to your home and help your kids relax in front of quality educational programming (TiVo required). Healthy snacks provided for a small extra fee!
I was trying to come up with my niche ’cause $350/hr sounds like something I’d be interested in. What do you suggest?
How about Camp Coordinator? We’ve spent five years trying to plan summer vacations for one then two. What’s a few more?
Or, how about Digital Learning Coaches? We both know our way around computers and the Web. Why not use those skills for the betterment of kids?
Ah, now this one would work: Talent Coach. We’ve done our part to teach Camille how to scream like a B movie queen. Of course, she brought the lungs and vocal cords to the table, but we’ve helped cultivate her ear drum-shattering shrieks.