PENNY'S SAHM READINESS TEST

Are you ready to be a SAHM? Take our quick quiz.

1. How strong is your desire to be a stay-at-home mom?

Assess your desire to be a SAHM to determine if this is something you wholeheartedly want to do day in and day out! If you are passionate about becoming a SAHM, you are more likely to be driven to make it happen. Listen to your heart! Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of how this role will affect you and your family, talk to your partner about your feelings, and try and establish just how badly you want to make this happen!

2. Are you able to stay at home with your children and not put a financial strain on your family?

Develop a reasonable monthly budget to see exactly how much of a second income is required, if any, to meet your family's financial needs. Many moms strongly desire to stay-at-home, but financial realities prevent many from doing so -- particularly single mothers. Prioritize what is really important to you and think about the costly things that you may be able to live without. Explore part-time work at home opportunities that you can do while your child is napping, while your child is in preschool, in the evening, or on the weekends.

3. Is the majority of your paycheck spent on childcare costs and commuting?

Compare your childcare expenses and your commuting expenses to your take home pay. If you are working just to pay childcare and train fare, then staying at home will not place your family in financial jeopardy.

4. Is your partner supportive about your desire to be a stay-at-home mom?

Make sure you have the support for your significant other. Transitioning from wanting to be a stay-at-home mother to actually being one is a far easier process when you have your partner's support. Anticipate your partner's concerns and be prepared to explain how staying home will be beneficial and not burdensome to your family.

5. How can you put your at-home time to best use?

After a full-time working mom read my column, Celebrating My Child Each and Every Day, she shared with me the stay-at-home desires of her heart. She already had many things in her favor: a strong, burning desire to be a stay-at-home mom, her husband's support, a relatively realistic financial system to make this happen, plus work experience in a field that would probably easily get her work-from-home opportunities, if necessary. However, her main concern was how effective she would actually be with her kids at home.

Determine how you will spend your days at home with your children. Some mothers are concerned about being able to effectively provide for all of their children's needs for most of each day. Being a SAHM takes some planning. However, if you have a sincere desire to meet your child's developmental needs, you will find that it is not difficult to make each day with your children enriching.

6. What will you do if it all becomes too challenging for you?

Begin developing a support system of family, friends, and other SAHMs. Network with other SAHMs. Take advantage of your support system when you need a break. Look to your spirituality for strength. Plan some "Me Time" when your significant other is home, or by working out arrangements for childcare with family or other SAHMs