This is just a thought for all mothers or mothers-to-be who would like to stay home but don't feel like you can. Have you ever sat down and thought about if it's possible? Usually it is. No child care cost, and by not going to daycare, usually less sickness and therefore, less doctor visits. Save on gas, clothes, eating out, and many other things. If you want to stay home, but think you can't, sit down and make out a budget. Think about what you can do without. You might be surprised to see that it really is possible, regardless of what everyone else says!

Yes I would love to stay home with my baby everyday! But I dont like to have the feeling that I'm being a burden on someone. Such as My husband would be paying all of the bills and it wouldn't seem fair to him. And when the baby gets big enough they should be around other kids to help their social lives.

I work at home and have the best of both worlds. It's worth looking into as well.

Emily D., Consider your role as a mother Divine. Women possess certain qualities that only they can offer to their children, so if your husband COULD pay the bills by his job alone then it would behoove your entire family for you to stay home. Hopefully he will understand this. Your children will be able to have POSITIVE social interaction more easily when you are home and they are able to have good friends over or can go to their friends house versus being stuck at day care with bratty kids with runny noses. You will build a stronger relationship with your children if you are there and they know that. Take it from me who was raised by a stay-at-home-mom, it was a constant in my life which is priceless. I have seen many people who have been raised both ways, and there is always exceptions, but for the most part the ones that had their moms at home, turned out better and are now outstanding citizens. Consider what wahpro has to say.

There is nothing wrong with staying home with you children when they are young and there is nothing wrong with working when they are young either. Going back to work after my daughter was born was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I didn't go to college for five years to stay at home either.

Being a working mom can also have benifits for your children. Like encouraging independence and responsibility. Children who are with people other than their parents for part of the day can help them feel self-reliant which can build self-esteem. They may need to be responsible for starting there own homework and looking after and helping with younger siblings.

You also set an example for your children which can shape their understanding of men, women, and families. I want my daughter to know she can grow up to be a mommy and she can also be an architect or a police officer or anything she wants to be. I also want to teacher that mommy's aren't the only ones who can cook, and clean, and take care of them. Daddy's are perfectly capable of doing all those things. And if someday we have a son I definitely want him to know that too.

And daycare is not full of snotty nosed brats. My daughter attends a 6 child daycare and I like the fact that she gets exposed to differnt cultures and back grounds while she is there. They also make crafts and there is a dog that she loves. The day she met the dog, he is a yellow lab and his name is Winston, is the day she leaned to say "woof".

I also think being away from my daughter for a while everday makes our relationship stronger. I can't wait to see her at the end of everday. And even thought she can't quite tell me yet, I always asker "How her day was?" and "What did she do?". She jabbers on like a magpie in the back seat, yelling "Bye woof woof." and "Hi Mamma." and "Home?". It's the best part of my day.

It will be a constant struggle for me to balance work and home (being a mommy), but I think the operative word there is balance and letting my daughter know she is always my first priority.

Sincrerely,

A working Mommy

Thanks for standing up for working Mom's "CariannDS". Women can me Mommies and maybe even president.