I found the dollar amount some where on the internet years ago on a government page. Then I read some where the costs go up about 8 percent a year. It's really a fun page and doesn't have to be exact. Who's going to know anyways? A guestimate works well with the page. I use this page for the "X" in an ABC album.... eXpensive.
Lynne
The Costs of Raising a Child...
The government calculated the cost of raising a child born in 2003 from birth to18 and came up with $165,600 for a middle income family. That doesn't even touch college tuition. You might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich."
It is just the opposite. What do your get for your $165,600? · 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 jam. · 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 your stocks performed that day. · You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, and show them the difference between right and wrong, and more importantly, show what IS right and what IS wrong. · You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching cartoons, going to Disney World, and laughing with Dr. Seuss. · 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. · 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 the 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 date, and first time behind the wheel. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs called grandchildren.
In the eyes of a child, you can fix anything. You have all the power to correct a boo-boo, heal an owie, 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.