"Life
is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by
the moments that take our breath away..." Author
Unknown
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, 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, and catch lightning bugs.
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 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.
ENJOY YOUR CHILDREN AND
GRANDCHILDREN!
What Obama's Presidency Means to Little Black Boys
We have always told our children, "You can be WHATEVER you want to be, even President."
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama validated that statement.
