Not to long ago, there was a calculation on the cost of raising a child from birth to 18. It was suggested that the expense was about $160,100 for a middle–‐income family. And, while that is a lot of money, those estimations grow even higher considering college tuition and the ever rising cost of living. Now, to get a better understanding of this amount, some people took this $160,100 and broke it down to: $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.
Because of these kinds of numbers, some have suggested that if you want to be rich, don’t have children. However, I would state that if one wants to be rich, they ought to have children, especially when they consider what they are getting for that $160,100. 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 bear hugs. Endless wonders over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites. 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 and catch lightning bugs. You have an excuse to: keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, go to Disney movies, and wish 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 on Mother’ 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 Nerf ball out of the tree or Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool and coaxing a wad of gum out of hair. You get a front row seat to history to witness the: first step, first word, first date, first time behind the wheel and to seed the seed of God’s Word began to grow in your child. 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. And 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. I would say that all this is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!