If you have children please read this. A friend of mine sent it to me and it is priceless. I enjoy sharing it with all of you.<br />
<br />
        The Price of Children<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
        	The government recently calculated the cost of raising a <br />
	child from birth to 18 and came up with &#036;160,140 for a middle <br />
	income family. Talk about sticker shock&#33; That doesn&#39;t even touch<br />
	college tuition.<br />
<br />
        	But &#036;160,140 isn&#39;t so bad if you break it down. It <br />
	translates into:<br />
<br />
        * &#036;8,896.66 a year,<br />
<br />
        * &#036;741.38 a month, or<br />
<br />
        * &#036;171.08 a week.<br />
<br />
        * That&#39;s a mere &#036;24.24 a day&#33;<br />
<br />
        * Just over a dollar an hour.<br />
<br />
<br />
        	Still, you might think the best financial advice is don&#39;t <br />
	have children if you want to be &quot;rich.&quot;  Actually, it is just the<br />
        	opposite. What do you get for your &#036;160,140?<br />
<br />
        * Naming rights. First, middle, and last&#33;<br />
<br />
        * Glimpses of God every day.<br />
<br />
        * Giggles under the covers every night.<br />
<br />
        * More love than your heart can hold.<br />
<br />
        * Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.<br />
<br />
        * Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.<br />
<br />
        * A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.<br />
<br />
        * A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites<br />
<br />
        * Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the <br />
	 boss said or how your stocks performed that day.<br />
<br />
        For &#036;160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:<br />
<br />
        * finger-paint,<br />
<br />
        * carve pumpkins,<br />
<br />
        * play hide-and-seek,<br />
<br />
        * catch lightning bugs, and<br />
<br />
        * never stop believing in Santa Claus.<br />
<br />
        You have an excuse to:<br />
<br />
        * keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,<br />
<br />
        * watching Saturday morning cartoons,<br />
<br />
        * going to Disney movies, and<br />
<br />
        * wishing on stars.<br />
<br />
        * You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under<br />
        refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle <br />
        wreath  for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother&#39;s Day, and<br />
        cards with backward letters for Father&#39;s Day<br />
<br />
        For &#036;160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You <br />
        get to be a hero just for:<br />
<br />
        * retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,<br />
<br />
        * taking the training wheels off a bike,<br />
<br />
        * removing a splinter,<br />
<br />
        * filling a wading pool,<br />
<br />
        * coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball<br />
         team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.<br />
                                             <br />
You get a front row <br />
seat to history to witness the:<br />
<br />
        * first step,<br />
<br />
        * first word,<br />
<br />
        * first bra,<br />
<br />
        * first date, and<br />
<br />
        * first time behind the wheel.<br />
<br />
	You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your<br />
        	family tree, and if you&#39;re lucky, a long list of limbs in your<br />
        	obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You <br />
	get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,<br />
        	communications, and human sexuality that no college can <br />
	match.<br />
<br />
        	In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. <br />
	You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the <br />
	monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party,<br />
        	ground them forever, and love them without limits.  So, one <br />
	day  they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is<br />
        	quite a deal for the price&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;<br />
<br />
        	Love &amp; enjoy your children &amp; grandchildren&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;