The Price of Children

This adapted internet piece helps us remember to appreciate all the young people in our lives. Aunts and uncles can enjoy as well as parents and grandparents.

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way:

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 to be $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, or
$741.38 a month, or
$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 "if you want to be 'rich,' don't have children." 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 the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

finger-paint
bake hamantaschen
play hide-and-seek
catch lightning bugs

You have an excuse to:

keep reading "The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh"
watch cartoons
go to Disney movies

You also get to:

frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets
make a cardboard tzedakah box
hang colorful paper chains in the sukkah
bake hallah for Shabbat
spray painted noodle projects
make hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day
cards with Hebrew letters for Father's Day

For $160,140, there is no bigger 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
coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless

You get a front row seat to witness history:

her first step
his first word
his first date
their 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 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 the power to:

heal a boo-boo
scare away the monsters under the bed
patch a broken heart
police a slumber party
ground them when necessary
love them without limits

One day they, like you, will love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price! Love and enjoy your family!