A couple of nights ago, Cody found his Walkie Talkies and asked his dad to play with him. Since Don was heading out the back door anyway, he agreed.
(Before reading any further, if you haven't already read my post If Cody Won a Years Supply of Ice Cream , you'll want to do so now.)
This time, the conversation between Cody and his dad went like this...
Ring, ring...
Cody- "Hello?"
Don- "Oh hi! I'll have two tacos and some..uh...what do you call them?...cinnamon sticks?"
Cody- "10-4"
Don- "When will my order be ready?"
Cody- "10-4"
Don- "WHEN will my order be ready?"
Cody- "Soon."
Don- "What's soon? Two minutes? Five minutes? Ten minutes?"
Cody- "Tomorrow."
Showing posts with label Time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Time. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Cost of Raising a Child
Chase is dating a girl with an adorable 18 month old baby and it has been a real eye opener for him. While shopping at Wal-Mart last night, he text me. Here is what was said...
Chase- : D Having a kid is expensive. (as if I didn't already know)
Me- Try having four.
Chase- No thanks!
Our short conversation brought to memory a Court of Honor that I attended, where the Boy Scout's father read the following thought provoking piece:
The Cost of Raising a Child
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 price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. 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,
$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 $160,140.00?
* 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 jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* 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,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish 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 a mere $24.24 a day, 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 in history to witness the:
* First step
* First word
* First joke
* 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 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 and enjoy your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
It's the best investment you'll ever make.
If anyone knows who the author is, please let me know. I would like to give credit where it is due.
Chase- : D Having a kid is expensive. (as if I didn't already know)
Me- Try having four.
Chase- No thanks!
Our short conversation brought to memory a Court of Honor that I attended, where the Boy Scout's father read the following thought provoking piece:
The Cost of Raising a Child
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 price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. 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,
$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 $160,140.00?
* 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 jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* 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,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish 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 a mere $24.24 a day, 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 in history to witness the:
* First step
* First word
* First joke
* 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 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 and enjoy your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
It's the best investment you'll ever make.
If anyone knows who the author is, please let me know. I would like to give credit where it is due.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Paradox of Time
Food for thought...
Are you treating the present moment as a means to an end (never fully here because you are always trying to get elsewhere), an obstacle to overcome (you see life as a problem to be solved before you can be happy), or an enemy (you hate what you are doing, complain about your surroundings, blame, accuse, etc.)?
In Echart Tolle's book, A New Earth Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, he says the following:
"Life is always in the now. Your entire life unfolds in this constant Now. Even past or future moments only exist when you remember or anticipate them, and you do so by thinking about them in the only moment there is: this one."
"There is a paradox here. On one hand, how can we deny the reality of time? You need it to go from here to there, to prepare a meal, build a house, read a book. You need time to grow up, to learn new things. Whatever you do seems to take time. Everything is subject to it, yet it all happens in the Now. That is the paradox."
Tolle's words have made me realize that I have been treating the Now as a means to an end; always thinking ahead. I am going to work on appreciating the present moment.
What are your thoughts on Time?
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