We've repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child. The government recently 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, $741.38 a month or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day, and just over a dollar an hour! Still, you might think the best financial advice is to not 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, & warm cookies
A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate
A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain
Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day
For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
Finger-paint
Carve pumpkins
Play hide-and-seek
Catch lightning bugs
Never stop believing in Santa Claus
You have an excuse to:
Keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
Watch Saturday morning cartoons
Go to Disney movies
Wish on stars
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, handprints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day. For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. 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
Coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless
You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
First step
First word
First bra
First date
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's quite a deal for the price!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren.
Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140?
For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
You have an excuse to:
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, handprints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day. For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
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's quite a deal for the price!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren.
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