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Ok, hopefully I haven’t scared too many of you off with the LOLcat picture and title. I’ll behave now. Maybe.

Parenting is a tough job. We all know that. Everyone’s an expert and no one knows what they’re doing. Maybe that’s a contradiction, but I think it describes parenthood rather well. Especially motherhood. I think it safe to say I know rather less about fatherhood.

Moms working outside the home are criticized for not spending enough time raising their own kids.

Stay at home moms are criticized for being lazy.

Work at home moms are criticized for not maintaining the exact right balance of work and parenting.

Now, I’m a big fan of having at least one parent home with the kids. I say parent because I know some fathers who do quite well at it. I don’t care which parent is at home, which is the breadwinner or if the parent at home also works.

I also really don’t worry about it when both parents work. That’s often necessary, either for financial reasons or personal ones.

For the most part, no matter which way you parent, you’re getting it right.

It doesn’t matter if you breastfeed or formula feed. It doesn’t matter if you vaccinate or not. It doesn’t matter if you put your kids in a good daycare or stay home with them yourself.

What does matter is that you love your children and do your best by them. That you give them consistency. That your children are not abused. That you encourage them to be independent in appropriate ways at appropriate ages.

Yes, all parents make mistakes. We’re human. We get tired, stressed, impatient, angry, frustrated, etc. We make decisions for the wrong reasons sometimes.

But most of the things we do that seem like they will traumatize our kids forever probably won’t.

“Mom Wars.” You have no idea how much I hate that term. It sounds like we moms have nothing better to do than to fight about who’s doing it right, stay at home or work outside the home moms.

I’ve never felt one was inherently superior to the other. There are advantages to each, and what’s right for your family may not be right for mine. But a lot of people forget that.

I’d like to discuss my own reasons for being a stay at home mom first.

1. I get to be with my kids.

For just about any stay at home mom, this one comes first. It’s fun to be there for everything, even if it gets exhausting at times. I have a son who loves to cling to me and a daughter who is quite independent. Both can drive me nuts and drain me some days, but I get to see it all.

2. I’m able to work from home.

This is an advantage that today’s stay at home moms have over their predecessors. It’s much, much easier to bring in an income from home than it used to be. You aren’t all but limited to daycare or direct sales anymore. Some work regular jobs, but telecommute. Others run online businesses. Others choose more traditional routes to earn money.

The balance is tough, but doable for me. Doesn’t work for everyone, though, and I know it.

So why would a mom choose to work outside the home?

1. The family needs the money.

We can argue all we want about what “needs the money” really means, and never do anything more than judge one another. I’m not going to go there because “needs” is something that can be very personally defined.

2. Mom loves her career.

Why would you leave a career you love? If you aren’t the kind of mom who would enjoy being with her kids all the time, a career provides a sense of balance in your life. Women today generally aren’t raised to expect to be at home all the time. We are raised with the expectation that we can do what we want with our lives and fulfill our own dreams.

Despite the many guilt trips others lay upon us.

And that’s the catch. No matter which road we choose, someone wants to judge us. Stay at home moms are called lazy. If they work from home it’s hard to be taken seriously (although things in that area are slowly improving for many!).

Moms who work outside the home are scolded for allowing someone else to raise their kids. They may be disadvantaged in their careers by the demands of motherhood.

It’s much better to admit that most of us are just trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got. Each decision means a sacrifice of something else, whether it be a change or delay in your career, a decrease in the family’s income or something else.

Sure, it’s sometimes hard to talk to a mom who made a different choice. Your lives can be very different. But odds are you both made the decisions you felt were the right ones. Argue about who’s the better mom and you’re just making life harder for each other.

This is a guest post by Bizymoms.com Management

It’s a big decision to stay home with your family, rather than continue in a traditional job outside the home. But did you know that there are many choices if you decide to do so?

The first step before starting a work from home business is to forget about the business all together. Don’t think about what kind of business you want or what you want from it or anything like that. Next, write down your life. What have you accomplished in your lifetime so far? What things have you not done that you thought you would have done by now. What things would you like to accomplish or do in the years to come?

Look at your answers and write down goals for yourself. What would you like to achieve and by when would you like to achieve them. What will it take to achieve these goals? Are you in a position now that you will be able to achieve your goals? If not, why not?

These answers and goals should be your motivation for whatever you decide to do. So now you hopefully know what you want out of life!

Getting what you want in life usually involves knowing what you want first. If you get what you want before you even know you wanted it, consider yourself lucky, and don’t throw it away before you realize its value.

There are several advantages to working from your home including flexible working hours, low overhead, and more available time to work while other people are commuting to their jobs. Obviously the appeal of one or more of these can be more than enough for many of us to give working from home a try.

And who knows, maybe a few minutes, hours, or days later, you’ll land a big sale or be rewarded for your efforts like never before. And then you’ll be reminded that, YES! You are doing the right thing! That the “crazy” idea of starting your own home-based business was actually the BEST decision you’ve ever made.

Here are the Top 10 reasons for moms to start a home business

- Save on Day Care costs
- No commuting
- More flexibility
- Spend more time with your family
- Save on office attire and lunches
- Helps you to do something you like
- To be able to say ‘I own a business’
- You don’t have to execute your boss’s ideas
- Satisfied with your own achievements
- Your time is invested for your betterment

As you can see the benefits are numerous. Take some time today to see if starting a home business is the right choice for you. List the costs of commuting and working outside of your home. List the perks to being home for your children everyday, list the “downers” too. Also make a list of the space, equipment and skills you already possess that will aid you in starting a home based business. And finally, make a list of the possible businesses you could start with the equipment and skill set you just listed. Writing down your thoughts and assets is a great way to see the whole picture as it pertains to you and your family. You may be very surprised where your lists lead you. Give it a try!

Bizymoms.com has been dedicated to helping moms work at home for over 10 years. Now you can purchase any of Bizymoms’ six Premium Career Kits, including our ExpertVA, Virtual Assistant kit, on our New Easy Pay Plan, work at home internet business opportunity! Start your new business today, pay in 3 easy payments…Lifetime Website Included