STAYING AT HOME
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Before the Industrial Revolution, families were large extended affairs. Grandmothers were on hand to give advice about breastfeeding and uncles told family history around the fireplace. Children learned how to take care of a home and how to run the family business whether it was farming or shoemaking in the course of everyday activities.
Today extended families have been reduced to nuclear families or reduced even further to single-parent families. In an increasingly demanding world, parents’ resources are diminishing and parenting has become even more difficult.
On the other hand, choices for families have opened up. Mothers can choose to work outside the home. Fathers can choose to be the stay-at-home parent. Same sex couples can choose to have children. There is more freedom for mixed race couples.
Families have more freedom to choose, and each family should choose whether both parents want to work outside the home, how to divide childrearing, home chores, transporting children to activities, and responsibilities for other daily activities. The number one oppression of parents is guilt, I believe, so whatever you as parents choose, there should be no guilt involved.
Many mothers find it hard to juggle home, family and outside work. They regret missing their baby’s first steps or never having enough time. Fathers have short week-ends to see children that are already asleep when they get home from work. For those parents who have longed to spend more time with their families and hope to have a more organic family life, a home business is the answer. To be an entrepreneur you need to be an independent, outgoing risk taker as you establish your own business or company. Although it may be hard to know whether a business will succeed, there will always be a need for a variety of goods and services, especially household green products. Since today we are challenged us to keep our earth clean, green, and beautiful, a “green” enterprise will not only help restore and maintain our world’s health, but is sure to be popular. Although salaries can vary greatly with the self-employed, small business owners made an average annual wage of $36,000 to $75,095 in 2008, according to Pay Scale (March 2009).
An environmentally friendly business recommended for your own “green” venture is Melaleuca: The Wellness Company. We are proud to offer free presentations face-to face, by phone or on line.