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There was a time when we didn't have to worry about school until Labor Day. I'd like to know who's brilliant idea it was to start school a full month earlier? Don't they know we LIKE them being home? Somewhere around the first month of summer break, you begin to think you can't wait until school starts again, RIGHT? I'm never sure if I'm happy or sad about school starting again. It's certain we'll have more free time on our hands but the house always feels so empty when school starts. All the clattering noise from a houseful of children at play (or at war) is suddenly gone and there's a dead silence that befalls your world.Even your electronics get a break. No playstations or X-boxes screeching in the background. The DVD player won't be overheating from movie marathons. You are grateful your child's ears begin to heal once you've peeled the I-pod wires from them. And all that rattle trap music they listen to stops during the day. And the 1,001 questions you have to drop everything for stop. YOUR ears get a rest.
This time of year we start getting a little excited. Less than a week to get those school clothes, pencils, notebooks, yadda, yadda, yadda! And of course you'll forget something no matter how hard you try to get it all BEFORE the first day. And YES, I KNOW I can save money on those days they give you a back to school "tax break," but honey, I ain't a gonna' fight those crowds again. Last year I almost lost an arm over the "last" book bag my daughter just had to have. Another "lady" grabbed it from my hands as I was lifting it off the shelf. I decided then I'd rather pay the taxes and keep my limbs intact!
But after it's all said and done, and you think you're ready for them to go "back to school," stop and think. Are you really? There'll be no more gazing out the window watching kids play, quietly enjoying all the laughter and brief moments of comradery ... They are gone for another 9 months. All that quiet you lust and long for during summer break isn't so loverly when you finally get it back. While you may enjoy watching the birds coming back to your yard since the children sent them buzzing away two months ago for quieter, safer haunts, leaving your bird feeder lonely, the chirping and bird songs just can't touch the sweet laughter of children.
Back to school time is a time for reflection on important things, for re-organizing and restoring your home after two months of Kid Kingdom and all the inevitable clutter you've built up over the summer, for readjusting to silent moments and free time usually spent in a dizzy tizzy over childcare and realizing that your babies are growing up just a little bit too quickly for your taste. In honor of all the above, I am running my annual column about the cost of children a little early this year. I still wish I knew who wrote it!
THE PRICE OF CHILDREN
Author Unknown
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 on 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. They don't stay small forever.