Kids Are Worth It
Hi ladies -
Shamma sent this to me and wanted to share it with you all - I found it very touching! Enjoy!
Lori
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kids Are Worth It
You probably have seen the breakdown
of the cost of raising a child, but
this is the first time I have seen
the rewards listed this way...
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 says 'Don't have children if you
want to be rich.' 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 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.
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 the 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, the first word, the 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 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. (until they become teenagers of course)
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.
--Anonymous
Shamma sent this to me and wanted to share it with you all - I found it very touching! Enjoy!
Lori
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kids Are Worth It
You probably have seen the breakdown
of the cost of raising a child, but
this is the first time I have seen
the rewards listed this way...
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 says 'Don't have children if you
want to be rich.' 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 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.
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 the 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, the first word, the 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 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. (until they become teenagers of course)
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.
--Anonymous
