Tuesday, August 14, 2012

$24 A Day.


Sieving through some old emails the other day and found one with a slide presentation attached entitled "The Cost of A Child".

Read (in slide format) like this:

"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 price shock.  That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.  It translates into:
*    $8,897 a year;
*    $741 a month;
*    $171 a week;
*    A mere $24 a day;
*    Just over $1 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 and flying kites.
   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.

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.

You have an excuse to:

    never grow up;
    keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh;
    watch Saturday morning cartoons;
    go to Disney movies;
    and wish on stars.


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,
    And coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in 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 and great 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 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, you, love without counting the cost.

For a mere $24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.  That is quite a deal for the price. 

Love and enjoy your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

It's the best investment you'll ever make."

[courtesy of www.tommyswindow.com]


Made me smile.  

For about 3 seconds...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Top 100 Reasons Not to Have Kids:
1. You will be happier and less likely to suffer from depression.
2. (Assuming you get married), you will have a happier marriage.
3. You will have the capacity and time for meaningful, engaged, quality adult relationships.
4. You will be able to save for a comfortable retirement.
5. You are more likely to be an engaged and involved aunt or uncle because you are not jaded and worn down by your own kids.
6. You can fully pursue and develop your career.
7. You can fully pursue your educational goals.
8. You can decorate your home as you wish with as many beautiful and/or breakable things as you wish and you will not have to child-proof your house.
9. Your house will be free of junky, plastic kindercrap.
10. Your spouse will get all the love and attention he/she deserves. You will come first in your spouse/partner's life.
11. Your pets will get all the love and attention they deserve.
12. You can eat whatever foods you wish at whatever time of the day you wish out in the open, whether it be a gourmet, exotic meal, or chocolate chip cookies.
13. You never have to yell, scold, correct or punish anyone (assuming your spouse and pets are well-behaved ;)
14. Your home will be a quiet and welcoming oasis, instead of a chaotic zoo.
15. Your identity will remain firmly intact.
16. You will enjoy personal privacy.
17. You will get a full night’s sleep every night.
18. You will have the time and energy to exercise regularly and take care of your health and appearance.
19. You will stay informed and engaged in current events and will remain an interesting conversationalist.
20. You will retain your attention span.
21. You will minimize your carbon footprint and do far less damage to the environment than your childed peers.
22. You can be yourself (for better or worse) without worrying about having to be a good example.
23. You can live in whatever town or city you like without concerning yourself with quality of school districts, child-friendliness, etc.
24. You will be able to travel more frequently and your travels will not be limited to summer or school break times, or to kid-friendly destinations.
25. Speaking of vacations, you will be able to use your paid time off for vacations, instead of burning your days to take care of sick kids.
26. You can spend an entire weekend vegging on the couch in your pajamas if you choose.
27. You will maintain the capacity to be spontaneous – to do things spur of the moment, without complex planning or babysitter arrangements.
28. You can curse, swear, debate and vent freely in your home without worrying about censoring yourself.
29. You will never have to suffer the agony of childbirth.
30. You will be better able to retain your youthfulness and sex appeal because your body will not be ravaged by childbearing and a crappy diet.

Anonymous said...

31. You can eat your meals in peace without having to continually jump up and down to serve people.
32. You can own whatever type of car you prefer – you are not limited to mini-vans, SUVs and other family-friendly gas-guzzlers.
33. You can live in whatever type of home you like. Spiral staircases, wooden stairs, sharp-edged countertops, a small backyard, busy street are not necessarily deal-breakers.
34. You can buy a much more affordable home because you won’t need many bedrooms and you won’t have to limit yourself to more expensive, uppercrusty-good-school-district-towns.
35. Your grocery bill will be at least half of that of a family with children.
36. Your utility bills will be much lower than a family with children.
37. Your gasoline expenses will be much lower than a family with children (fewer shopping trips and errands, no chauffeuring).
38. You will spend your weekend doing things you enjoy, instead of attending boring children’s soccer games and birthday parties, or playing chauffeur.
39. You will have the energy and interest to maintain an active, attentive and enjoyable sex life.
40. You will have the freedom to come and go at will – you will remain independent, self-determined and autonomous.
41. You will have plenty of down time if you desire - naps, reading, meditating, lounging, listening to music.
42. Your life will have a manageable and comfortable pace. You will not be harried and stressed out, running around like a headless chicken trying to do it all.
43. You will age more slowly and will have fewer wrinkles than your child-encumbered peers.
44. Every night can be “date night” if you want it to be.
45. Your life will be one of far fewer worries, compared to your childed peers.
46. You will have the time and energy to actively contribute to the community – volunteer work, civic involvement, etc.
47. You can watch whatever you like on television at any time without censoring and you can watch complete shows or movies without constant interruptions.
48. You will spend far less time and effort on housework than families with children (the time and effort you will save on laundry alone is substantial).
49. You will have the time, energy and money to pursue whatever hobbies and interests you like.
50. You will not be contributing to the world’s overpopulation crisis.
51. You will not add to the drain on environmental resources.
52. You will never go through morning sickness or post-partum depression.
53. You will never have to endure the loss of a child.
54. You will never have to endure the strain and upset of raising a diseased or disabled child.
55. You will never have to deal with raising a troubled child (drugs, pregnancy, STDs, delinquency, truancy, crime) and will never be saddled with raising grandchildren because your teen child gets pregnant (or gets someone pregnant).
56. You will have spending money and can actually spend it on yourself if you choose.
57. The physical intimacy you share with your partner/spouse will remain romantic and will never have to be planned, scheduled, forced or manipulated like a science experiment for the sake of getting pregnant.
58. You will never suffer from burnout from trying to obtain the “have-it-all” lifestyle.
59. Your life will continue to be flexible. You can change your mind and your plans at a moment's notice.
60. You will not have to change diapers, wipe snotty noses or all of the many other stomach-turning things a parent must do.

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

Anonymous said...

Hello. Kid. & Goodbye

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye. Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

Hi, wham, bam, ahem, man!

Anonymous said...

came across blog while blog surfing. sad story. troubled soul. find solace in GOD

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