For My Sisters

This post is dedicated to my pregnant sisters. For they are about to embark on the most incredible time of their lives.
This article was emailed to me when I was pregnant with Shelby. Of course times have changed in 6 years, but this is cool.

"The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 years of age. It came to $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college education. For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child's name). For others, the number might confirm the decision to remain childless.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.
That's $8,896.66 a year,
$741.38 a month,
or, $171.38 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". It's actually the opposite.

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 in jelly.

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 poorly your stocks performed today.

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 The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watch 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, 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 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. The first step, first words, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheeel of a car.

You get an education in physcology, 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 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 one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost."

Congratulations Ashley and Jessica!
I love you!