The Costs And Rewards Of Raising Children Today

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[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 (US) for a middle-income family.

Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the things we could have had.

WHAT EXACTLY 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 wonders over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

A hand to hold, often sticky with jelly, or peanut butter.

A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring down rain.

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, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to keep reading the adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies and wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets, 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.

So, given all you get for your investment, the bottom line is:

Raising kids today is the smartest and most rewarding investment you will ever make and the dividends never stop coming.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

I heard this article mentioned on Paul Harvey's 12 pm (ET) radio show today -- and did a web search (after unsuccessfully searching for it on Free Republic) to find the article in full. Please pardon me if this HAS already been posted before. If it hasn't -- ENJOY! If it has, it's message bears repeating again (and again, and again)....

Also -- I TRIED to post this article to the "General Interest" topics, but it kept reverting to the "News/Activism" topic...

Here is the source of the article:

http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/sweetgeorgiapeach1/cost.html

[GSlob]

There is a short four line verse which I'll take the liberty to translate verbatim [please take me at my word that it IS a verse in the original language]:
What are the children? -Worries, running noses,
Scarlet fever, whooping cough, cries,
Sleepless nights and days of worry -
In short, only trouble...

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

You sure your name isn't Mr. Burns? :-)

[GSlob]

"You sure your name isn't Mr. Burns? :-)"
Absolutely. I just translated a short Zinoviev's four-liner.

[Rhiannon]

Must be talking about young children, when they become teenagers , you start questioning whether if any expense is worth it, when they are disrespectful, rebellious and arguementative.

I have just figured out why parents have heart attacks at this age. It because they have teenagers the specialize in enraging their parents.

[nuke rocketeer]

You forgot:
An eager retriever of launched model rockets
A good excuse to buy all the toys you wanted as a kid
An excellent source of your daily requirement of laughter

[Hildy]

Isn't this sweet. I don't know many parents who fingerpaint with their high school children, but I do know many who wait up all night worrying where their children are. I know many who have to bail their children out of jail. I know many who watch their children battle addictions and depression. I even know some whose children have abused them.

My point? WHY DO PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN ALWAYS HAVE TO PROVE HOW GREAT IT IS, HMM?

[heylady]

"WHY DO PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN ALWAYS HAVE TO PROVE HOW GREAT IT IS, HMM?"

Probably for the same reason people without children try so hard to prove how great it is without them.

[Archer24]

Teenagers are not that hard to handle if you have established a good relationship during their formative years. We told ours that they were now old enough to make their own decisions (as they were doing that anyway) so they were also old enough to be responsible for them. I told my son he could do anything that he wanted....but if he got in trouble he was on his own. He had fun - is still having fun in his young 30's - no trouble - worked for me.

Arch

[Hildy]

Great comeback.

[Old Professer]

Nag Note: divide $160,140 and you get the hourly equivalent of a full-time worker at minimum wage after taxes; IOW some people either do it for less or it can't be done, which is probably the thrust behind this piece.

[Old Professer]

Works out to about $8,900/year for the 18 years and the gov keeps FSIC, right?

[Lizavetta]

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 (US) for a middle-income family

How can anyone with more than two brain molecules possibly believe this?

How can you live in the United States that abounds in millions of low and middle income families - most with two or more kids - who will clearly never spend that on raising their kids because they can't afford to......and buy this BS?

And since when has ANY prediction of cost determined by the government been even remotely right?

[KoRn]

Dear God. I need 3/4 of a million dollars.........

[Conservatrix]

Wow, how much will it be to raise my 6 kids?

We shop in thrift stores.
The only new stuff they get is socks and undies.
We buy food from bent and dent grocers when possible.
We do not all go to the movies each time something comes out. We wait for the $4.00 DVD at Blockbuster.
We do not overindulge or overspend.
The kids play together and enjoy each other.
We pray, love, forgive, and keep going.

We don't own a brand new vehicle or live in a beautiful new home. But the home is filled with immense and intense love. The van we do have gets us where we need to go.

Each child is so immensely talented. My oldest is an artist and wants to go into graphic design. My second has an exceptional voice and loves banking and cooking. My third wants to be a scientist in genetic engineering. My fourth is going to be a writer and missionary. My fifth is also a budding little "artist girl." My youngest is a natural ballerina and way prettier than Shirley Temple ever was.

I do not hate money, I acutally wish we had more of it, but the heart of a family is not engendered in the bank.

[Nightshift]

pinged again

[tutstar]

Dear God,
Thanks for providing our needs.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Must be talking about young children, when they become teenagers , you start questioning whether if any expense is worth it, when they are disrespectful, rebellious and arguementative.

I have just figured out why parents have heart attacks at this age. It because they have teenagers the specialize in enraging their parents.

I'm of the persuasion that all families/children go through that "rebellious" phase: when the children get all uppity and think THEY know better than the parents about several things....it is the families that are well-grounded, though, that can weather these up-and-down pitfalls, relying on faith to get them through the "trying times"....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

You forgot:
An eager retriever of launched model rockets
A good excuse to buy all the toys you wanted as a kid
An excellent source of your daily requirement of laughter

Yes, yes -- those and MANY MORE! :-)

[Jim Noble]

I have six.

I pity those who count the cost.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

My point? WHY DO PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN ALWAYS HAVE TO PROVE HOW GREAT IT IS, HMM?

ANOTHER Mr. Burns on this thread? :-)

"Is the glass half-full or half-empty?"....betcha I know which one of those you side with. :-)

[durasell]

"Is the glass half-full or half-empty?"


The glass is obviously over-engineered for the amount of water it needs to hold.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Probably for the same reason people without children try so hard to prove how great it is without them.

Good come-backer! As Meatloaf used to say, "....you took the words right out of my mouth"....

[Carolinamom]

A hearty a-men from this mother of 5.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Teenagers are not that hard to handle if you have established a good relationship during their formative years. We told ours that they were now old enough to make their own decisions (as they were doing that anyway) so they were also old enough to be responsible for them. I told my son he could do anything that he wanted....but if he got in trouble he was on his own. He had fun - is still having fun in his young 30's - no trouble - worked for me.

Arch

AMEN, AMEN TO THAT!

My parents were the same way -- stern and yet knowing when to let us go out on our own, make our own mistakes and grow from them....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Nag Note: divide $160,140 and you get the hourly equivalent of a full-time worker at minimum wage after taxes; IOW some people either do it for less or it can't be done, which is probably the thrust behind this piece.

To you "nattering naybobs of negativism".... :-) ....I believe the real thrust of this article was to point out that there ARE MORE IMPORTANT things than money in this world -- namely the nuturing and caring for other God-given souls....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Works out to about $8,900/year for the 18 years and the gov keeps FSIC, right?

Something like that....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

(See post #26.....)

[durasell]

There are some people who are simply not cut out to be parents. As previously noted on numerous threads, it's a tough job. So it should come as no surprise that some people do not want to undertake it. And, if by chance they do undertake, then they end up making not only their own lives miserable, but making the kids miserable as well.

Let's get real, some people do not want butterfly kisses and giggles under the blankets. They want plasma screen televisions and to see Venice.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Probably for the same reason people without children try so hard to prove how great it is without them.

Ooooo. That's gonna leave a mark.     =;^)

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

I do not hate money, I acutally wish we had more of it, but the heart of a family is not engendered in the bank.

Sure, everyone wishes they had more money -- after all, when they say "money is the root of all evil" it is a fact that money DOES pay the rent, mortgage and college education....yours was a very insightful reply....your family sounds a LOT like mine (I am one of five children) when we were growing up....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

I have six.

I pity those who count the cost.

I come from a family of 7....you are right -- there is NO COST that one can put on life, whether it involves the lives of family and friends living or the the lives of family and friends who have died....that is one thing I have never quite understood -- why SO MUCH money was distributed to the survivors of the 9/11 families....how come their family members' lives were worth more than, say, other people who lost family members under more less-than-public circumstances....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Hmmmmm....still LOOKS like a HALF-FULL glass to me.... :-)

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Let's get real, some people do not want butterfly kisses and giggles under the blankets. They want plasma screen televisions and to see Venice.



I PITY THE FOOLS!!

[Gabz]

WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!

[Rhiannon]

I try. However when we are so nice to our children when they are young, often sets them to that continuing expectation when the behavior does not warrant such kindness. I am trying to get thru to my son that he is reaching the limit of goodwill. That if he asks me for something he better behave and speak better all the time otherwise the answer will be no.In otherwords, making him aware that his behavior and rudeness has consequences.

I know that this is a phase and we will grow past it. Just the young man's teterone and I am God complex. They think they don't have to do what you say and will speak back. Then get all upset when you dare to correct them and withdraw priveledges. Does not make a serene household. But with consistentancy, even the toughest mind will learn good manners are necessary, even to parents.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

I know that this is a phase and we will grow past it. Just the young man's teterone and I am God complex. They think they don't have to do what you say and will speak back. Then get all upset when you dare to correct them and withdraw priveledges. Does not make a serene household. But with consistentancy, even the toughest mind will learn good manners are necessary, even to parents.

I went through the same phase when I was younger too -- I believe all kids and adolescents do...

You know, even those families where the whole family goes to church and all appears well (from the uneducated outside observer)....well....there is always something that we don't know about those situations too....it goes without saying that there are always "black sheep" in families that we just don't either see or hear about....everyone/everyone person/every parent has their crosses in life....and that is why they are called "crosses" -- as they gentle bear them as Christ bore our cross for our sins...

[frgoff]

The actual quote is: The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money itself is simply a tool.

[TXBSAFH]

My wife and I are expecting twins this summer, so we are starting down this road. It is a trip.

[durasell]

Some people are damaged beyond repair from their own childhoods. Some are emotionally unsuited for children for other reasons and incapable of either providing the kind of love a child needs or accepting the kind of love a child offers. I never question the decision of these people to remain childless.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

THAT'S GOOD NEWS!
THAT'S GOOD NEWS!

(said twice for twins) :-)

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

The actual quote is: The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money itself is simply a tool.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Some people are damaged beyond repair from their own childhoods. Some are emotionally unsuited for children for other reasons and incapable of either providing the kind of love a child needs or accepting the kind of love a child offers. I never question the decision of these people to remain childless.

Your point is well-taken....bye-and-bye, are you married with children? My wife and I have been married for over 1-1/2 years and have not been (yet) able to have children.....so....that's where I'm coming from on this subject...

[patton]

Huh? Christopher cost in excess of $100,000 dollars before he was three months old. Heck, he took a helicopter ride that was $16k.

He is now 10, and only more expensive.

Estimate seems low to me.

[Iron Eagle]

well -- it may not be all that ridiculous, really. Of course, most of the numbers are averages and percentages. And, if one thinks of the 8,900 per-child only as cash transactions specific to a child, it is less likely. But, built into that cost are cloths, groceries, diapers, health care, a portion of housing costs, vacations, tuition/registration, automobiles, phones, TV's entertainment. Heck -- the cost of my health care for a family plan is 400 more per-month than it would be if I had no kids -- that's 4,800 dollars right there.

[durasell]

Apologies, I don't answer personal questions online...

I only wrote that because I've seen enough kids brought into a world where they had to deal with damaged parents. The whole sweetness and light bit of butterfly kisses and giggles is fine, but there are hard realities when it comes to kids. And not nearly enough people consider those realities.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Apologies, I don't answer personal questions online...

There is a "Private Reply" button, if you'd like to go that route....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Apologies, I don't answer personal questions online...

There is a "Private Reply" button, if you'd like to go that route....

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Dang, I think I hear an echo in here....

[patton]

Besides which, the correct engineering answer is, "Well, this side of the glass is obviously the wrong size."