---------------------- Forwarded by Judy Hernandez/HOU/ECT on 08/18/2000 
12:29 PM ---------------------------


"SOCORRO HERNANDEZ" <SUHERNAN@LLGM.COM> on 08/18/2000 11:36:24 AM
To: <ehernandez@ci.santa-ana.ca.us>, <Judy.Hernandez@enron.com>, 
<irenepepe@hotmail.com>, <smanzanales@jw.com>, "MARIA THOMPSON" 
<MTHOMPSO@LLGM.COM>, <jh306@netzero.net>, <Maria.Soliz@ppfa.org>, 
<bandama@ssa.co.orange.ca.us>, <Bburrell@tmh.tmc.edu>, <maryloulou@yahoo.com>
cc:  
Subject: Fwd: Cost of a child


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Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 12:27:22 -0400
From: "MICHAEL SODOLAK" <msodolak@LLGM.COM>
To: "CATHERINE BROWN" <CLBROWN@LLGM.COM>, "KATHRYN ANN ROBERTS" 
<KROBERTS@LLGM.COM>, "SOCORRO HERNANDEZ" <SUHERNAN@LLGM.COM>
Subject: Cost of a child
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The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth
to
18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle-income family.  Talk about
sticker shock. That doesn't even touch college tuition. For those with
kids,
that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the things we could have
bought, all the places we could have traveled, all the money we could have
banked if not for (insert child's name here).  For others, that number
might
confirm the decision to remain childless.

But $160,140.00 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 $24.44 a
day.  Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial
advice says don't have children if you want to be rich.

It's just the opposite.  There's no way to put a price tag on:
Feeling a new life move for the first time and seeing the bump of a knee
rippling across your skin. Having someone cry, "It's a boy!" or shout,
"It's
a girl!" then hearing the baby wail and knowing all that matters is it's
healthy. Counting all 10 fingers and toes for the first time.  Feeling the
warmth of fat cheeks against your breast. Cupping an entire head in the
palm
of your hand. Making out dada or mama from all the cooing and gurgling.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?
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 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.

For $160,140.00, 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 Clause.  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 $160,140.00, there's 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 the bike, removing a sliver, 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 bra, first date, 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.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,
communications and human sexuality no college can match.  In the eyes of a
child, you rank right up there with God.  You have the power to heal a
boo-boo, scare away 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.