the_price_of_a_child 2 1/2 wise cracks The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 and came up with $160,140 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 bought, all the places we could have traveled, all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child's name here). For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless. But $160,140 isn't actually 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 $24.44 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. But in reality, it's just the opposite. There's no way to put a price tag on... Feeling a new life move for the first time and seeing the bump of a knee rippling across your skin. Having someone cry, "It's a boy!" or shout, "It's a girl!" then hearing the baby wail and knowing all that matters is it's healthy. Counting all ten fingers and toes for the first time. Feeling the warmth of fat cheeks against your breast. Cupping an entire head in the palm of your hand. Making out Da or Ma-Ma from all the cooing and gurgling. What 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 wonder over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies. A hand to hold, usually covered with jam. A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring 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 and collect spray-painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, handprints 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 sliver, filling the 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, 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 no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. You have the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever and love them without limits, so that one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. 010208 ... paste! not sure, but i do know one thing: that dip you ate wasn't really a dip. 011204 ... silentbob having them rebel and hate you and forever look down on you and vowing never to become a product of your shortcumings and mistakes. divorcing you. Seeing the pain you inflict when you are trying to parent them and they just don't understand your side of things. having them divorce you. 011204 ... Sonya There is no price. A child is a life and therefore a blessing. Children can be 'expensive' in terms of physical currency, but they are worth every penny in my opinion. Perhaps you'd save money if you didn't have any children, but then maybe you'd be missing out? Nothing can replace looking into a baby's eyes, or watching a baby take its first steps, or taking your son or daughter's photo on prom night, or walking your daughter down the isle, or just watching a child grow and learn. Some would say that despite my 1-9 digits, I'm still a child. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but for all the negatives that come with childhood, adolescence, and parenting, there are twice as many positives. The most important of these is love. Perhaps the price of a child is how much love you are willing to give and not so much how many dollars you have to spare. 011204 ... nocturnal I dunno. how much do abortions cost nowadays? if hell existed, I'd so be packing my flame-retardant bags right now.. 011204 ... lady lunchbox $300 is roughly the_price_of_not_having_a_child... this does not include regret, pain, and endless longing. i want my money back. 020223 ... hey now! children are priceless 020223 ... Aimee last i heard.... white babies sell anywhere between $1 million to $5 million on the black market whilst any other non-white baby sells for $100,000 - $900,000 insane... 020823 ... daxle I suppose it all depends on what you think life is worth. Personally, as I can't determine any reason to keep procreating, and I value environmental balance, I think that having a child would actually be a selfish thing. I think most people have children either because they are religious, or just because in society that seems to be the thing to do. There are so many neglected and suffering children... why not adopt one of those if you care so much? One day, another ice age will come and our lives will have mostly been rendered pointless, if they weren't already. But until then, I value our natural resources, and it amazes me that even people who can't appreciate their intrinsic value still can't see how much personal value they also have. If you care so much about your progeny, think about what quality of life they'll be experiencing if all of our resources are destroyed. 020823 ... silentbob or if crappy rap metal bands continue to be popular. 020823 what's it to you? who go blather from