Cost of parenting also has its rewards
All in all, I’m in favor of parenting. I’m personally appreciative of the fact my parents had me and then stuck around to see how I turned out. Fact is, they had a big role in shaping who I’ve become. But, they didn’t control the ultimate outcome. I got a say in it.
There are times I disappointed them and times I made them proud. I’m not exactly sure they knew all the ups and downs there would be in parenting before they got into it. They probably didn’t anticipate all it would cost them. But neither did I before I got into parenting.
In the business world, before you enter into a transaction, you perform what they call a “risk/benefit analysis.” You weigh the risks of doing the deal against the benefits, and you figure out what it will cost you before taking the plunge. But when you’re deciding to have children, most of us don’t do the icy cold analysis of a business deal. Despite the fact parenting is a risk/ benefit transaction. The problem is you can’t know the full benefits or risks before taking the plunge. Parenting can be costly.
According to the latest government report, the cost of raising a child to age 18 is $233,610. While that figure doesn’t touch the cost of college, it is actually lower than a couple of years ago when the cost to raise a child was $244,000. That sounds like a lot of money, but even if you take the higher figure of $244,000, having kids is a bargain. Check the arithmetic. If you multiply the hours in a day times the days in a year times 18 years, and divide it by the cost of $244,000, it’s only $1.55 an hour. And what do you get for a buck fifty-five an hour?
• Naming rights. First, middle, and last. Better than you get with a stadium.
• Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
• Glimpses of God’s love in miniature.
• Giggles under the covers.
• A hand to hold, sometimes sticky from peanut butter.
• A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites and skipping rocks.
• Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
You get on-the-job training in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications and human sexuality. You get to be a hero just for retrieving the Frisbee off the garage roof. You get a front-row seat to history as you witness the first word, the first step, the first date, the first driver’s license. You get to be immortal, adding a branch on your family tree.
You also receive the power to heal a boo-boo with a kiss and scare away monsters under the bed. You get to patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, love without limits and prepare them for life so that, hopefully, one day, they, too, will love without counting the cost.
That’s a pretty good deal for $244,000. I think I’ll take two.