The Cost of a Child

A few years ago, the government calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 years of age, 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,

- $741.3 month
-  $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


• Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what happens that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
finger-paint
play hide-and-seek
catch lightning bugs
play in the yard with the dogs...

You have an excuse to:
keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
keep watching cartoons
go to animated movies....

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

You get a front row seat to witness the:
- the first smile
- the first step
- the first word
- the first birthday
- the first time behind the wheel...

You get another branch added to your family tree. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, and communications that no college can match.

You are given the honor of teaching them the Bible and the ways of the Lord.

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!!!