The Price of Children


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...really 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, 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, 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 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 & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!!!!!

What a bargain!!!

Smile> Thank you for putting this on . well done!
People.. friends,lovers etc come and goes in one
s life but your children are always your children.Love and enjoy them while you can..one never knows what
s around the corner.I almost lost my only child and son a couple of years ago in a bad accident that did take 3 other lives and while we were close before you can only imagine how we are now and thru him I have 3 grandchildren .There
s NOTHING better than when any one of them gives me a hug and says I love you:)

I have two grown daughters, 20 & 29. At this time, each is cultivating their own life, creating it for the young women they are; as it the right course of action. I have had to step back & allow each to become whom they are destined to be. This includes watching as they experience the pain of a relationship, the loss of a friendship, the moments of self doubt. Any parent will attest it is not easy at times, nonetheless, necessary. I shall stand at the perimeter ready to catch them if they fall, to wipe their tears, kiss away their hurt. My children are the finest part of my heart, my grounding force in this life. They came from me, yet I began with them. Of all that I am, I am a mom always.

Here's one for you Smiles. I wrote it
in March of 96 for both my kids.
They're 3 years apart.

God's Gift To Me

This, God's glorious time
Such Pain, All Mine.

Your breath of life from me
A twinkling of first light you see.

Glittering tears, and woefull cries
His magical gift here lies.

My daughter.
My son.

Bathed in softness and craddled with
love
Heaven's warm glow from Angels above.

i still have sticks in vases they
brought me when they were little.
love them each and every day.

{{{{HUGS}}}}

Thanks Smiles for this post it really means so much more..Parents don't take your kids for granted tell them everyday how much you love them how proud you are of them Dads be a mentor to your sons Moms thank you for all you are you are taken so much for granted...
Again Thank you Smile for this post