No Kidding!
Welcome to this brand new blog dedicated to kids and their natural ability to make us laugh or cry or angry or proud or just downright loopy!
Children. I love their innocence. I love their purity. Their joy. Their simplicity. Their trust. Their hugs. Their wet & sticky kisses. Their stinky, sweaty scent. Their unabashed, unaffected, uninhibited zest for life! Makes me wish i were a kid again. Or, at the very least, to have that child-like innocence. But in this world, you have to possess the wisdom of King Solomon to survive so there goes child-like innocence waving at me while it flies right out the window.
Anyways, I have been sitting on this blog for the longest time and yesterday I received something in my email which just happened to strike a chord, having just seen my eldest through college [ergo: we're back to square one with the bank accout :(]
Well, it brought a whole new perspective to me. Never mind that this first kid is graduating from college and is a month away from turning 23. Remember, I have four more trailing right behind. But I found this really lovely so I thought I would share it with you. Just a tip, but you may wanna have your calculator handy.
Children. I love their innocence. I love their purity. Their joy. Their simplicity. Their trust. Their hugs. Their wet & sticky kisses. Their stinky, sweaty scent. Their unabashed, unaffected, uninhibited zest for life! Makes me wish i were a kid again. Or, at the very least, to have that child-like innocence. But in this world, you have to possess the wisdom of King Solomon to survive so there goes child-like innocence waving at me while it flies right out the window.
Anyways, I have been sitting on this blog for the longest time and yesterday I received something in my email which just happened to strike a chord, having just seen my eldest through college [ergo: we're back to square one with the bank accout :(]
Well, it brought a whole new perspective to me. Never mind that this first kid is graduating from college and is a month away from turning 23. Remember, I have four more trailing right behind. But I found this really lovely so I thought I would share it with you. Just a tip, but you may wanna have your calculator handy.
"The government [US] 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, 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?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every single 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 or a booger.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, playing with the dog or just being plain silly!
* Someone to laugh yourself sideways 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, 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 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 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 and all the little ones in your life!! Make special memories before time flies by and it always does when you are having fun!!!"
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, 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?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every single 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 or a booger.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, playing with the dog or just being plain silly!
* Someone to laugh yourself sideways 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, 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 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 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 and all the little ones in your life!! Make special memories before time flies by and it always does when you are having fun!!!"
posted by Jazzmamma | Wednesday, May 24, 2006
1 Comments:
I think it's amazing how kids go to school and come back inevitably smelling like egg...
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