heycods
Captain
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2005
- Messages
- 3,941
The Price of Children This is just too good not to pass on to all.<br /> Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the<br />breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have<br />seen the rewards listed this way. It's really nice.<br /><br /> The government calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and<br />came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. And that doesn't even<br />touch college tuition.<br /><br />But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.<br /><br /> It translates into:<br />* $8,896.66 a year,<br />* $741.38 a month,<br />* $171.08 a week.<br />* That's a mere $24.24 a day!<br />* Just over a dollar an hour.<br /><br /> Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if<br />you want to be "rich. "<br /><br /> Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140.00?<br />* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!<br />* Glimpses of God every day.<br />* Giggles under the covers every night.<br />* More love than your heart can hold.<br />* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.<br />* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.<br />* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.<br />* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites<br />* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how<br />your stocks performed that day.<br /><br /> For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.<br /><br />You get to:<br />* finger-paint,<br />* carve pumpkins,<br />* play hide-and-seek,<br />* catch lightning bugs, and<br />* never stop believing in Santa Claus.<br />You have an excuse to:keep:<br />* reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,<br />* watching Saturday morning cartoons,<br />* going to Disney movies, and<br />* wishing on stars.<br />* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets<br />and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in<br />clay or Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.<br /><br />For $160,140.00, there is no greater bang for your buck.<br /><br />You get to be a hero just for:<br />* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,<br />* taking the training wheels off a bike,<br />* removing a splinter,<br />* filling a wading pool,<br />* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that <br />never<br />wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.<br /><br /> You get a front row seat to history to witness the:<br />* first step,<br />* first word,<br />* first bra,<br />* first date, and<br />* first time behind the wheel.<br /><br />You get to be immortal.<br /><br />You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a<br />long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great<br />grandchildre n. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal<br />justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.<br /><br />In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all <br />the<br />power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a<br />broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them<br />without limits, So one day they, like you, will love without counting the<br />cost.<br /><br />That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!<br /><br />Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren! There's nothing more worthy!