The Price of Children
(The cost, and rewards of raising a child)
The calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18,
is $160,140 for a middle-income family (US statistic).
Wow!
Yet, $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!
Think the best financial advice is,
don't have children if you want to be "rich"?
Nope, 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
Someone to laugh yourself silly with,
no matter what else happened in your 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! 1
(The cost, and rewards of raising a child)
The calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18,
is $160,140 for a middle-income family (US statistic).
Wow!
Yet, $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!
Think the best financial advice is,
don't have children if you want to be "rich"?
Nope, 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
Someone to laugh yourself silly with,
no matter what else happened in your 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! 1
It is not only what we do,
but also what we do not do,
for which we are accountable. 3
but also what we do not do,
for which we are accountable. 3
In a world with the "mommy-dearest" types and "dead-beat dads",
so-called “parents”, who walk away
from these wonderful beings:
and abandon them emotionally, intellectually etc,
with no sign of loving, caring, kindness or compassion:
shallow people
– with only selfishness and hate,
there is also you . .
to love & enjoy your children, grandchildren, and all
the little ones in your life
- and let them feel loved!
so-called “parents”, who walk away
from these wonderful beings:
and abandon them emotionally, intellectually etc,
with no sign of loving, caring, kindness or compassion:
shallow people
– with only selfishness and hate,
there is also you . .
to love & enjoy your children, grandchildren, and all
the little ones in your life
- and let them feel loved!
The greatest classrooms of this nation or any nation
are not in any school or university.
They’re around the dinner tables
in the homes. 2
are not in any school or university.
They’re around the dinner tables
in the homes. 2
To submit comments, requests or materials,
contact me at outreach@dawncoveabbey.org
contact me at outreach@dawncoveabbey.org
For empowerment workshops, seminars and lectures,
see: http://www.dawncoveabbey.org/healing-circle
see: http://www.dawncoveabbey.org/healing-circle
Visit our sister website Stella Maris Community
- for prayer requests and more HERE
- for prayer requests and more HERE
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Acknowledgements:
[1] -The Price of Children
[2] ~Richard Berendzen
[3] ~Moliere
Media: Let the Sunshine In
Acknowledgements:
[1] -The Price of Children
[2] ~Richard Berendzen
[3] ~Moliere
Media: Let the Sunshine In