It is almost every parents dream to be able to stay home with their children. For some people, staying at home isn't even an option because in order for their household to survive, they need two steady incomes. If one income is lost, it can mean a drastic change in their lifestyle. For some that means having to sell their house and move into something smaller, or having to get rid of one of their cars because it's too expensive to operate and maintain two. For others it may mean not being able to take their yearly vacation to the beach. Sometimes though, a smaller house, only one car, and no vacation is worth the time spent with your kids, especially since they are only babies for a short time.



With so many home based business opportunities, being able to stay at home is at least attainable. Once you figure out how much of an income you need to make it worth while, you can find a job to match. If you have kids in daycare you have to take that into consideration, as well as the gas for your car, and any money spent during the day for coffee breaks and lunch. When all of those costs are added up and then subtracted from your daily Income, the total amount left will probably surprise you. Since it is only that amount you need to make on a daily basis to justify your working from home.

Now you need to decide what type of work you want to do since there are literally hundreds of different business opportunities for you. There are jobs where you work strictly off of the internet, which obviously means no interaction with other people, and there are home based sales jobs. The home based sales opportunities are mostly home party based. These types of jobs are mostly done in the evenings which means that your husband or partner can be at home with the kids while you work for a couple of hours. This may not seem much like a home business, but it is. All your phone calls, orders, and business related material is done

during the day, which allows you to stay home with your children. Not only do you benefit from being home, but your children also benefit from having a parent care for them during the day as opposed to outside childcare.

There is no substitute for a parent's care. Your child could be in the most wonderful daycare where there is only two children for each worker to care for, but its still not mom or dad. There have been studies done that have showed that children who spend all day in daycare have higher levels of stress and act out more aggressively than children who are cared for at home by a parent. There are also studies that have shown the opposite. It all comes down to what type of care the child receives, meaning, how involved the caregiver is. If you are going to work at home but end up ignoring your children or getting frustrated and mad because you aren't getting what you perceive to be enough work done then perhaps daycare is a better solution. If you can work while your children are playing, napping, or even at a playgroup down the street, then having a home based business may be the right fit for you, but only you can decide.