Meme sent me this in an e-mail today!!! So true!!
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $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
* $741.38 a month
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.
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. What do you get for your $160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* 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,
* 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 upon 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.
For $160,140, 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 or pizza regardless.
You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* 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, in your obituary 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 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. One day they, like you, will love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!! Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren!!!
Saturday before Will went to Nana's house, he posed for some pictures in his overalls and hat. Daddy loves it when he wears overalls and his cool rugby hat!!
Sunday afternoon we went to Meme and Poppy's house to celebrate Aunt Beth's 34th birthday. Cousin Kate was there, and boy, did they have fun. I went in Meme's room to change Will's diaper and clothes, and Kate came in for a wrestling match!! We soon learned she can dish it out, but she can't take it! Haha! Will is so lucky to have a cousin only 10 months older than he is!! It was a fun afternoon with family!!
I had to take some more recent pictures in to Kiddin' Around yesterday. Will is getting harder to pose...haha! His head got chopped off in a few, but they are still cute. These are some that they did not choose for his headshot! Enjoy!
Will has been crawling since he was 5-months old. He has been pulling up on his own and standing since he was 5 1/2 months old. He has been trying to walk since then as well. He can fly around the house holding on to his lion. He can fly around the house and bump into all kinds of things in his walker. But can he walk by himself???
ing into everything these days!! He loves to crawl around and he wants to walk so badly that he will take his lion as many places as he can just so that he is standing and can see everything!!
Ahhhh!!! My Mama has a broken foot and has to wear a boot for the next 5 weeks. She has been walking on it for the past 5 weeks and the doctor told her today that it is broken!! What a day!!
I can't believe our little boy is growing up so fast! In less than 4 months, he will be 1-year-old. Wow...time flies when you're having fun!!
