I have seen repeatedly 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, really nice!
The government recently calculated the cost
of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up $160,140! That doesn’t even
touch college tuition. For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies
about all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child’s name
here).
For others, that number might confirm the
decision to remain childless.
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 $24.44 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial
advice says don’t have children if you want to be “rich”. It is just the
opposite.
What do your 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 jam.
A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building
sandcastles, 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, 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.
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 the bike, removing a splinter, filling the
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. 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 with 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.
ENJOY YOUR KIDS (and grandkids) !!!!!!