This is just too good not to pass on to all. Here is 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 $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock!
That doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* 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 $160,140.00?
* 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 and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how
your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets
and collect spray painted noodlewreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in
clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, 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 in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* 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 & great-grandchildren !!!!!!!
It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!! !
This totally made me cry. It just hit me all of a sudden with the handprints on mother's day thing that I am going to be the person he brings it home to. I'm going to be a mother. I will hold him and love him and help him to grow. I guess it just never full-on hit me until now. It seems a little weird to be in that role but, that said, I cannot wait!
Look at how big he's getting! And Juno too....
He was so intent on telling mom his story. He has become quite the conversationalist!
Just chillin'
Tummy time!!
He likes to make faces at himself in his mirror.
He has much better smiles, but this is the best we've captured on camera ;)
Black and Gold!!
