The Price of Children

While I don't normally pay much attention to forwards that just end up being junk filling my mailbox, I thought this one was worth reading. It's also a good reminder of why I decided to have three of the little things in my life.
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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 ..

$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!
* 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, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
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:
*fingerpaint
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

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
prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for
Father's Day.

So 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, and coaching a baseball team that
never wins but always gets treated to ice cream or pizza regardless.

You get a front row seat to history, to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* 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!

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With a 13, 14, (and 23 year old still living at home), I seem to be perpetually stuck in the 'grounded for life' line of this letter. It's nice to be reminded of all the benefits. Enjoy your kids everyone. They grow up way too fast.