Every situation is individual

I do both, stay at home and work. My children are 4 & 1 now. When I had my daughter I was a full time nanny and was able to take her to work with me. Since having my son I run a small family home daycare so I am able to stay home with my children while still earning a necessary income to survive. My children are not attached to my hip, nor have they ever been. My daughter never had seperation anxiety, and neither has my son. Even though they are with me almost every day and have been since birth. They have been raised in the company of other children and this has been beneficial for them.

I have been in childcare for many years and I think each situation is individual. If I compared children's behavior based on whether they were home raised or daycare raised it would not be accurate enough for me to base my own life decisions on. I have seen the best and worst in every situation.

My daughter, being home raised, is also very bright and if you want to go by her pre-k teacher's reviews, well above average and has received, and passed, the tests kindergarten children receive to graduate into first grade. However, that is really of her own doing, I never pushed her to learn things, it just was an every day thing we did for fun. I have seen children in structured daycares her age no where near the same level, while others are beyond. The same for home raised children.

So there is no way to judge what is best in a general sense. We make the best of our decisions. Too much judgement is thrown around at good mothers everywhere because of this. I am all for mom's who work outside the home, inside the home, or not at all and stay home. We mom's love our children and make our decisions, hopefully, for what is best within our own home and life with the well being of our kids a high priority. I am not in the position to put myself on a pedestal and say my way is the way to go. I praise any mother for making her own decisions and loving her children.