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, playhide-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) !!!!!!
--Author unknown.
--found circulating the Net via email.
A Fun, Faith 'n Funny Bone Feature 
