the Mom-Stuff Community

As we are approaching Mother’s Day and dealing with an unstable economy this is just too good not to pass on to all of my Mom-Stuff Friends. 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. We, the Mom-Stuff Team wish all of you a very blessed Mother’s Day.

The Price Of Children

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

price shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 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 is don’t have children if

you want to be ‘rich.’ Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* 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.

For $160,140.00, 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,

* 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 painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in

clay for Mother’s Day.

For a mere $24.24 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,

· coaching a baseball team that you treat to ice cream regardless of who wins the game.

You get a front row seat in 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 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. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren !!!!!!! They are the best investment you will make. Have a Happy Mothers Day.

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