Outdoor kitten vs. indoor kitten?

A stray cat had five kittens in our garage five weeks ago. We are finding homes for the mother cat and four of the kittens but we are keeping one. However, my mom insists that it must be an outdoor cat. She says that if it is indoor, it will scratch the furniture, make messes, and tangle with the dog. This may be true, but if it is outdoor I am worried it may not be able to fend well because we have a road nearby and also wild animals roaming around in our nearby forest, not to mention the freezing winters. We've had an outdoor cat before, but she was fully grown and she didn't like it inside so there wasn't any problem. But since this is a kitten, I asked if we could compromise and have the kitten as an indoor/outdoor cat, but my mother's argument here was that it would bring in fleas. Also she says the dander from the cat would affect guests with allergies and she doesn't want this. How can these problems be efficiently solved? If you have an indoor/outdoor cat, what kinds of problems have you run into and how have you dealt with them? Any input would be greatly appreciated.