Worth the Cost? You Bet!

The Price of Children:

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but
this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.

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, 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 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.
* 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 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!!!!!!!

Next Life

In this life, I am a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. Yup, I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to cute, cuddly, partially grown cubs. I could DEFINATELY deal with that, too.

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat at anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. Yup, I could deal with that, too.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS you to have hairy legs and excess body fat.

YUP, GONNA BE A BEAR.

An interesting quiz....

If you wish, check this out. I [Dennis] did, took the short quiz, and here are my results:

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

There's Always Next Year

Living in Cleveland, the phrase "there's always next year" seems to just roll off the tongue. Cleveland hasn't had a championship sports team in ---- well ---- my lifetime! Close but no cigar. Second Place. Such is the life of Cleveland sports.

Now for the real part of the story.

20 years ago, I was rooting for the champions. 16 years ago, same thing. Anyone who knows me or my family, knows that we are NY Giants fans. And that Red, White, and Big Blue blood run through my father's veins. Every Sunday he goes into his closet and chooses the NY Giants wear he had on the last time they won. (This week it was a red hoodie and an electric blue long sleeve t-shirt, but he only had it out, he had on a different Giants sweatshirt)...

This afternoon, we sat watching the Big Blue Wrecking Crew fall apart on national TV. The Giants could not get out of their own way. They were down right defeated. Even the commentators noted that the players were sitting "dejected" on the sidelines. They flat out did not show up to play and the Carolina Panthers did.

So Bob is sitting in Tega Cay with his boys in their Panthers garb wondering why Big didn't put on his trusty red sweatshirt today. The one he wore last week as the Giants had no problem rolling over their opponent. The one he wore when Tiki Barber ran circles around the defense. And the guys that were on the sidelines watching their team fall to pieces are now on vacation wondering what would have happened if only that guy in Medina, Ohio would have put on a red hoodie.

Well, to that we say....

There's always next year.