mainman
Set Trippin
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 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, 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 Da y, 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 KIDS AND GRANDKIDS!
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that
take our breath away..."
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 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, 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 Da y, 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 KIDS AND GRANDKIDS!
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that
take our breath away..."
Be careful... MM might see that as an offer. 
