My first admission is that I personally don't have kids - at least not yet. However, I do have about $100,000 in student loan debt that I accumulated in graduate school so that I can fulfill my professional dreams and be self-sufficient. Am I supposed to give that up and just chalk $100,000 up as a loss because I also have dreams of having a family? We, in recent years, have given so much credence to SAHMs and repeatedly beat it in the heads of all people, in particular any television (Oprah, TLC, etc) viewer, that being a stay at home mom is an incredibly tough and rewarding job. And no doubt it is. My sister was one in fact until she started working part time again, and now full time. But now in light of that, it seems that we are turning our back on those women who choose to battle being colleage, wife?, and mother. What gives you that right?? Furthermore, are you seriously contending that every child who goes into daycare comes out disturbed??? If so, you need to exit the shelter under which you have been hiding and enter reality. My mother did stay at home and raise me. My mother did everything for me and sacrificed herself in the meantime. Yes, because of that, and many other things, I have incredibly strong ties with my mother and a gratefulness that I will never be able to even begin to express to her. BUT being a grown woman, and now seeing my mother do things that she enjoys and fulfills her (she has since been doing work out of the home) would have provided me with many other qualities that I sometimes find I lack. Finally, in this day where divorce is prevalent in our society, it is important for each partner to find self-sustaining habits that will enable that person to survive the god-forbidden separation IF it were ever to occur. I cannot even count for you the number of divorcees I have witnessed, who after spending 15yrs of raising their children, and now going through a divorce, are miserable because they are living off spousal support and doing nothing for themselves because they simply no longer can. It is hard to re-enter the workforce and sustain the same quality of life after having been on haitus for 15+/- years. I really hope that you, SAHM, will reciprocate the same respect that working mothers have, whether or not willfully, given you.

Great post! You will never have to get stuck in a bad situation like I see many women. I always worked and now I am a widow. I have had friends call me that were a SAHM and they were crying saying they had no skill to get out of a bad situation. The truth is that a SAHM has great skills - they can manage, cook, clean, etc. These are great skills that can be used to make great money.