The Price of Children

The Price of Children

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It’s nice. The government recently (2006) calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family.

Talk about sticker shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
$8,896.66 a year or $741.38 a month or $171.08 a week or $24.24 a day!

Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don’t have children if you want to be “rich.” Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?
Naming rights. First, middle, and last.
Glimpses of God every day.
Giggles under the covers every night.
More love than your heart can hold.
Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
A hand to hold.
A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
Someone to laugh yourself silly with.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to...
finger-paint,
carve pumpkins,
play hide-and-seek,
catch lightning bugs, and
never stop believing.

You have an excuse to...
keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
watching Saturday morning cartoons,
going to Disney movies, and
wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand print sets in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for no reason at all.

You get to be a hero just for...
retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
taking the training wheels off a bike,
removing a splinter,
filling a wading pool,
coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to witness history in the making by observing the...
the first step,
the first word,
the first bra,
the first date, and
the first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits so... one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children!!!!!