The Price of Children
This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. 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 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!
* 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:
* finger-paint,
* 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 or 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, and
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, 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!!!!!!!
Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren!
"Enjoy Your Days-----Love Your Life"
"Life is a journey to be savored