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Thread: The Cost of Kids

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  1. #1

    Default The Cost of Kids

    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. It's
    nice, really nice!

    The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from
    birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 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 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.

    Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have
    children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite.

    What do your get for your $160,140?

    Naming rights, --- First, middle, and last!

    Glimpses of God everyday.

    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 jam.

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

    (I'm throwing in geocaching here too!)

    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 Land, and wishing 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 for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for
    Father's Day.

    You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
    taking the training wheels off the 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 to history to witness the first step, first
    word, first bra, first date, and 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.

    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 with God.

    You have all the power to heal a booboo, 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.

    For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.

    Nuff said….. Enjoy your kids and grandkids
    "It may be that your soul purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others" ~Steven Wright~
    I'm in my own little Lat/Lon

    “Danse avec les Arbres”

  2. #2

    Thumbs up I love this!

    I have this printed and in a frame in my house; years ago I sent it to everyone I knew.......it is nice to see someone else enjoyed it too!
    Craftycaching----Ami

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Default 1manteam

    I enjoy the time we get to spend together. Alot more now, than we used to. And it's out doing stuff. 24.24 per day is cheap. Thanks so much, for reminding me. We found a cache today. I had him on my shoulders trying to retrieve it. My don't they grow up fast.
    Why not live life like it is your last day....instead of pretending to be a member of the Peter Pan Club and believing you will be around forever.

  4. #4
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    Default

    Kids are over-rated. Some don't always turn out so great.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    Default

    Unless I missed it, I think that they missed something off the list. And that is getting your kitchen cupboards and refrigerator cleaned out on a daily basis! Not much oudated food in our house.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  6. #6
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by firefighterjake View Post
    Kids are over-rated. Some don't always turn out so great.

    Was this a self-evaluation?? Jake, we don't think you're so bad, don't be so hard on yourself.

    I think that all kids are essentially good but there are some parents out there who don't give them the right or appropriate tools to get through life with. Lets face it, we are what are parents teach us to be. My two cents.

  7. #7
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Trezurs*-R-*Fun View Post
    Was this a self-evaluation?? Jake, we don't think you're so bad, don't be so hard on yourself.

    I think that all kids are essentially good but there are some parents out there who don't give them the right or appropriate tools to get through life with. Lets face it, we are what are parents teach us to be. My two cents.
    On the first paragraph . . . thanks for the laugh. This made my day.

    On the second paragraph . . . I respectfully disagree. Sometimes you can do everything right (whatever the definition of right is) . . . and sometimes kids (and people in general) will choose to go a different way. I could say that maybe my opinion is colored since I tend to think that people are inherently bad, but then again I also have personal experiences to back up my opinion.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  8. #8
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Trezurs*-R-*Fun View Post
    I think that all kids are essentially good but there are some parents out there who don't give them the right or appropriate tools to get through life with. Lets face it, we are what are parents teach us to be. My two cents.
    Quote Originally Posted by firefighterjake View Post
    On the second paragraph . . . I respectfully disagree. Sometimes you can do everything right (whatever the definition of right is) . . . and sometimes kids (and people in general) will choose to go a different way. I could say that maybe my opinion is colored since I tend to think that people are inherently bad, but then again I also have personal experiences to back up my opinion.
    There are always exceptions to any rule, obviously, but I truly believe people are a product of their environment. Of course any discussion about this would lead to, "What came first? The chicken or the egg."

    I, too, have personal experiences that could highlight instances of "bad kids from good parents." On the flip side, I have personal experiences of "good kids from bad parents."

    We tend to be the kind of people that we are taught to be. Being a firefighter yourself, you can appreciate firefighting as a "family tradition" for many. Farmers, too, tend to be generational. As far as personal behaviors, it's well documented that children who were abused have a predisposition to be abusive as adults. Children who come from homes of smokers and drinkers tend to smoke and drink as adults.

    I see in my two daughters the way they react to things is the way my wife and I react. I've seen my two year old appropriately use the $h!^, when she spilled her milk on the counter (I'm almost sure my wife taught her that because I don't drink much milk ). If my daughter burns down my house, most likely it will due to the fact that I or my wife left a lighter or matches where either of my two girls could reach them. Sometimes we don't see the whole picture behind a childs behavior but as parents we need to be accountable. We have to give our children the right tools to deal with the things they may encounter in life.

    If a child makes a bad decision I believe its because parents either neglected to pass along the right tool or the parents didn't have the tools necessary to deal with the issue themselves. That doesn't make them bad parents as things that are out there now were not there when they were kids. Example, as a Junior in high school, my friends and I would bring our shotguns to school, "break" them down and put them in our lockers so we could go hunting after school. The only rule was we had to make sure to lock them in our lockers. Today, if my 5 year old were to bring a NERF toy gun to school she would be expelled. Heck, I grew up playing "cops and robbers." Recently my daughter and several playmates were given detention (mind you she's in kindergarten) because they were playing a similar game and pointing fingers at one another --Bang--. In truth, I never thought anything of it but after her "incident" I now see the social implications of such behavior and have made it my responsibility to tell my daughter why she shouldn't do it.

    Kids today are faced with many different challenges than I was faced with while growing up. I don't claim to have all the answers nor do I claim to be the model parent (I'm sure it was my wife who said the bad word ) but what I will contend is that parents have to be accountable for their young, dependant children. Decision made by adult children are their own responsibility. Hopefully by then, the child is instilled with all the right tools and will make all the right decisions. Debating when a child becomes an adult is another whole can of worms..

    This is not to say there are not exceptions but as a general rule I think all kids are born essentially good. Maybe, potentially, would be a better word.

    My glass is half full I guess!!!

  9. #9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Trezurs*-R-*Fun View Post
    Was this a self-evaluation?? Jake, we don't think you're so bad, don't be so hard on yourself.

    I think that all kids are essentially good but there are some parents out there who don't give them the right or appropriate tools to get through life with. Lets face it, we are what are parents teach us to be. My two cents.
    I agree....its all about loving your kids unconditionally and developing their self-esteem. If they don't have that they don't have a chance...it can be crippling. Self Esteem is everything.
    "It may be that your soul purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others" ~Steven Wright~
    I'm in my own little Lat/Lon

    “Danse avec les Arbres”

  10. #10
    d’76 Guest

    Default

    If you ever want examples of bad kids come talk to me. I work with them every day and can consume your whole day with examples.

    Unfortunalty the majority of them dont have a responsible parent/Guardian anywhere to be found.

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