A mom on TikTok has gone viral for sharing a video about the "day in the life of a stay-at-home mom with a full time nanny." Jen A. Miller, who goes by @jenamillerco on TikTok, received over 1.2 million views on her video and over 125,000 likes, with thousands of comments. Her video on being a stay-at-home mom with a nanny stands in stark contrast to the outdated and archaic expectation that a woman who doesn't work outside of the home should handle everything alone, including child care, household chores, managing the household budget, and the family schedule.
Jen said even though her nanny spends "40 hours a week with our daughter," she does, too. Parenting isn’t easy and all parents deserve support. She also shared that she runs her home like she ran her business for seven years and starts her day with a workout at 5:30 a.m.
She added that she and her husband don’t have any family nearby, so their nanny offers her the support she needs to handle everything. What she does in a day as a SAHM surprised a lot of viewers, which goes to show how much she and many mothers handle on any given day.
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She basically splits parenting duties with the nanny.
Jen captioned her video with an acknowledgement that every family is different and will choose to do things in different ways. She wrote, "Every family is different. This is how we make ours work." In the video, Jen shared that their nanny works from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., and what she does before, after, and during that time.
Jen can be seen getting up at 5:15 a.m. and working out at 5:30 a.m. By 6:30 a.m., her toddler is awake and they are playing together until the nanny arrives.
"I'm up at five every morning to get my work out in before our daughter wakes up. I spend the mornings with her until our nanny arrives at eight. After walking the dog and getting myself ready I head to my office to work" she said.
It sounds like a busy morning even with a nanny. “Our nanny spends 40 hours a week with our daughter, but so do I. It’s a full time job and having help let’s me show up as the best mom I can be with more patience, energy and excitement for the time we spend together,” Jen explained.
‘I used to run a business for 7 years and now I run our home like I run my business,’ she said.
Jen continued explaining what her day looks like after the nanny arrives in the morning. “I run our house like I ran my business,” she said. “Using project management software to stay on top of all operations. From daily to-dos, to planning travel, managing our Airbnb, working on our shared side hustles, scheduling social and volunteer time and carving out time for errands, admin, household, and creative work,” she continued.
Honestly, it sounds like a lot to do between the hours of 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
She added that she is back on "mom duty" after the nanny leaves at 4 p.m. “When our nanny leaves at four I’m back on mom duty. Making dinner, doing bath time, and getting our daughter down for bed,” she explained. In her caption she wrote, “Having a full time nanny gives me the energy and patience to be the best mom I can while still taking care of all of our family’s needs.”
Stay-at-home moms deserve support like all parents do.
Being a mom involves a lot of work, whether outside the home for pay or contributing to the family in other ways, such as managing the household and family full time. A study sponsored by Welch's found that stay-at-home moms work an equivalent of two and a half jobs taking care of their children, per WCVB.
The study noted mothers worked an average of 14 hours a day or a 98-hour work week and on average had only 1.7 hours of free time per day. Whether a mother does paid work or not, her time and energy are valuable like everyone else’s, and she deserves to have support and help.
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TikTokers applauded the mom in the comments and told her she is a 'working mom.'
After the mom shared everything she does in a day in her TikTok video, users corrected her and told her she is actually a working mom. Many applauded her decision to get support and help.
“Even if you didn’t have a business I’d understand needing a nanny as a sahm," one user commented. "Mama needs a break/support too.”
Another user wrote: “It’s crazy ppl don’t see a SAHM mom as a job. If you outsource the responsibilities to a nanny you pay them. So obviously it’s a job. This is amazing!”
Others pointed out that moms used to never raise kids alone and it really does take a village, however you can get one.
“Since the beginning of time Women have never raised their children alone," another user commented. "The shaming behind a nanny is absurd, esp. w/ no family around. Wise choice!”
Someone else commented: “Good for you!!! I love this for you and your family. No shame in making your own village.”
