Cost of Kids

Cost of Kids
Author Unknown
(my comments in paranthesis)

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.
* Butterly kisses and velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. (among many other amazingly simple things.....)
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. (or mud!)
* 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. (or what housework you got done that day!)
* You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, and catch lightning bugs.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay, and cards with backward letters. (and all the other treasures that fill up your fridge!)
* 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 more.....you fill it in!)
* YOU GET A FRONT ROW SEAT to history.....when you witness the first step, first word, first date, first time behind the wheel. You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and maybe even a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.
* YOU GET AN EDUCATION in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, (AND more!) that no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. (and we ARE called to be an example of HIM to them) You have all the "power" to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a party, and love them without limits, so...one day they will, like you, LOVE without COUNTING THE COST.

ENJOY YOUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS!



Wow, isn't this a powerful reminder? And I'm sure any parent could add even more to this list!
And.....I get to multiply this by 4!!! I won't do the math now, but that's quite a cost, AND worth every penny!
(I just wonder if they added the cost of diapers to this!? surely.....)

I think they are priceless actually.....