Pictures and Poem

It has been calculated that in 2012 the cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 costs $235,000 for a middle income family!

$235,000 x 3 

Wow!...and that doesn't even touch college tuition.

$235,000 per child isn't so bad if you break it down...

$13055.55 per year

$1087.96 per month

$253.01 per week

$36.15 per day

...still, you might think that the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be "rich". Actually, it is just the opposite.  

Parenting is the hardest thing in the world, but the rewards are rich...!

Cost of Raising A Child

~author unknown

What do you get for your $235,000 (x3 in our family...*gulp*)?

Naming rights: First, Middle, and Last! 

Glimpses of God every day.

Giggles under the cover 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.

For $235,000, you never have to grow up.
You get to:

finger paint,

carve pumpkins,

play hide-and-seek,

catch lightning bugs, 

...never stop believing in Santa Claus 

You have an excuse to:

keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,

watch 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 pain noodle wreaths for Christmas,

hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day,

and cards with backwards letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $36.15 a day, 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,

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 joke,

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, like you, love without counting the cost.  This is quite a deal for the price.

...it's the best investment you'll ever make!

 Pictures at the train station - 9/18/12
Makayla - 4 years old

Mason - 2 years old

Baby girl _______ - 2 months before her arrival