Being a mom is hard work. Whether you are working full time or staying home with your kids, making sure your little one gets through each day in one piece deserves a round of applause. You are strong in whatever decision you make for your family.

As with everything, there are pros and cons to staying home. As for me, I was a working mom for 15 months of my daughter’s life. In June,  I traded in my paycheck for play dates, and I’m now living the life of a stay-at-home mom.

When I first had my daughter, I couldn’t imagine staying home with her. I loved my job. I loved my co-workers. I wanted to work. However, something in me switched to wanting to be home with her — and it’s been a wonderful decision for my family and me. Through the course of the decision-making process though, I got a lot of questions and statements: “Are you going to have another one now?” “What are you going to do all day?” “I could never do that” or even “Good luck!”

The fact of the matter is that SAHMs get a lot of flack about the decision they make to be home with their kids. It’s a stigma — and in a lot of ways you might feel you are setting back the feminist revolution. We shouldn’t feel guilty about allowing ourselves the responsibility to help raise teeny babies into self-sufficient little humans 24/7. It’s a choice to do it — and I love it.

Here are 10 misconceptions to get over the stigma about stay-at-home moms:

1) Alone all day. I put this as No.1 because this was my biggest misconception. Sure you are with your little one (who may or may not be able to have a conversation), but there are so many opportunities to get out there and meet other moms (MOPs groups, play groups, music classes, etc.) to interact with other adults. Your only friend does not have to be Daniel Tiger, because there are plenty of other women that would love to be your “neighbor.”

2) We Have Lots of Free Time/ It’s Easy. Of course, stay-at-home moms bake, craft, and read all day while our little darlings sit quietly playing with blocks. HAH! I’m lucky if my daughter will play with blocks for 5 minutes. The truth is I have the same amount of time to do all those things as when I was working full time. You are on all day duty to entertain your child, so you don’t get much free time to get anything done. Sure I can space out laundry, doing the dishes, and cleaning throughout the day unlike having to do it all after work or on the weekends, but I don’t get to do the grown-up “fun” stuff during the day. And with that being said…Of course, after my 10 a.m. nap, I sit around and watch a Real Housewives marathon. Yeah. Right. The whole “naps when baby naps” is a farce because I have never been able to nap when she does (IF she does nap) – there is too much to get done otherwise. And if you think motherhood is easy, then I commend you. Otherwise our “job” is not easy. Oh it’s not a job you say…

3) What We’re Doing Isn’t As Important as Having a “Real” Job. I worked for 10 years before deciding to stay home with my daughter. I have loved all my jobs, my co-workers, and each position has a special place in my heart. However, for me, taking care of my daughter full time I have found the most rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling because I get to be her teacher as she grasps a new concept or skill. I will get to see the outcome as I work with her each day – it’s something I want to do for my “work” for the time being. If you knock stay-at-home moms for not doing a “real” job, you are knocking the nannies and daycare workers that are (I’m sure) doing an awesome job taking care of your little one during the day. After all we have mad respect for working moms…which brings me to…

4) We Don’t Respect Working Moms. Of course we do! And sometimes we really feel like the grass may be greener on the other side and have a little envy about being away from home during the day. But when you are working full time, you are away from home all day but still need to get your kids home, clean, feed, and do all the rest of the activities that comes with being a functioning family. They are our own moms, sisters or best friends. They are the doctors and nurses we see when our little one is sick or our child’s school teacher — we thank you, and we respect you tremendously.

5) We Hate Daycare Because They’re “Germy.” I’m a little different in my viewpoint because my daughter was in daycare from 6 months until 15 months while I was working full time. However, stay-at-home moms realize the value of socialization AND the reality that nothing is perfectly clean. We take our kids to play gyms, The Thinkery, or enroll them in preschool. Unless we plan to homeschool, we realize that our little darlings will be exposed to germs ALL.THE.TIME.

6) We’re Uneducated or Don’t Have Fulfillment. A lot of people assume that stay-at-home moms either didn’t go to college or got their “MRS” Degree. However, knowing myself and meeting other stay-at-home moms, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Some have masters, doctorates, law degrees – they are smart women. They may have chosen to put their career on hold for the time being because it was best for them. It was their decision and you don’t have to worry about it – it’s their choice. I always think of the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” when I’m thinking about this concept — girl power.

7) Love Being Around Our Kids Every Second. Everyone loves their kids (if not, that’s a whole other issue). They are our kids – we love all their little quirks. Does that mean we love to be around them all day, every day? Not always (as in today my daughter throws a tantrum because I won’t let her set off the car alarm for the billionth time.) That’s the truth of stay-at-home mom. You can say we chose this, but as anyone knows being a parent is tough work regardless if you “chose” this to do daily or not. It’s a fun, rewarding, but sometimes we just need a break…or you might think….

8) We Don’t Need a Break. I remember when I was working full time, I would cherish my weekends with my daughter because I had 24/7 time with her. But the reality was during the weekdays I got a break from being ON all the time with my daughter – fighting nap times, spitting out new foods, changing diapers, temper tantrums, making sure she doesn’t fall down the stairs, etc., etc., etc. Now I am on 24/7 with NO weekends, so I find it important to take a break. ALL moms need nights out, pedicures, or time to themselves – just because I’m choosing to stay home doesn’t mean I don’t need one too.

9) Our Husbands Have Worked All Day – They Don’t Need to Help. Now maybe I have just have a rockstar husband and I haven’t needed to ask for help, but he 100 percent is right there with me regardless if my work is at home. Maybe it’s just our generation of dads, but regardless if you stay at home or not they seem to be right on point helping with bath time, meals, or cleaning. Just because their wife is staying home doesn’t mean they can’t help with the household too.

10) That Stay-At-Home Moms Love Their Children More Than Working Moms. We ALL love our kids regardless of what we choose to do during the day. End of story.

What are your biggest misconceptions you get about stay-at-home moms?