The Price of a Child

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. For those with
kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all
the things we could have bought, all the places we
could have traveled, all the money we could have
banked if not for our kids. 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's just the opposite!  
There's no way to put a price tag on:
Feeling a new life move for the first time and seeing
the bump of a knee rippling across your skin.
Having someone cry, "It's a boy!" or shout, "It's a
girl!" then hearing the baby wail and knowing all that
matters is it's healthy.
Counting all 10 fingers and toes for the first time.
Feeling the warmth of fat cheeks against your breast.
Cupping an entire head in the palm of your hand.
Making out da da or ma ma from all the cooing and
gurgling.

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.

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, handprints set in clay for
Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for
Father's Day.

For $160,140, there's 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 sliver, filling the wading pool,
getting 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, 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 no college
 can match.

  In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with
 God. You have the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away
 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.

A special thank you to my sister-in-law, Laurie,
for submitting this page.

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