I recently read in The Wall Street Journal that it takes $300,000 to raise a child from birth to 17 years old.
My immediate reaction: someone has been cooking the books. There’s no way it took my wife and me $300,000 – or anything near it – to raise each of our four kids.
I know that for a fact because there has never been a 17-year stretch when I made $1.2 million or anywhere near it.
My suspicion is the story was written for New Yorkers and other urbanites. You know, the folks who spend $50,000 a year on preschool and even more on private high schools.
Then they hire tutors because their kids weren’t smart enough to get into the “right” college on their own. And they chauffeur junior to play year-round competitive sports. They even pay for airfare and hotels for tournaments.
Oh yeah, don’t forget the cost of bribing a coach to get a scholarship at a fancy college, like some of the folks in “Hollyweird” have done.
Raising kids is not particularly costly. You, as parents, just need to think before taking out the checkbook.
First, kids want their parents to spend time with them, not money. Helping with homework, a game of Monopoly every now and then, or just hanging out and talking are solid ways to keep them and you entertained.
Our two oldest kids had a knack for doing impersonations. They would do Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – and anyone else who came to mind – and make me laugh until my sides ached. You can’t buy that kind of entertainment.
Movies were another diversion. We would rent films and, after we all watched them, the discussion would begin. “It sucked” was not an adequate assessment. The kids were expected to back up their opinions. What was good, what was not good, did the actors and director do a good job? And why.
When they were old enough to get a job, they became lifeguards at the local pool, worked at the cannery or better yet, they got jobs at the local theater. All four of our kids worked there and enjoyed it. The money was a plus.
They also played sports – soccer, track, cross-country and tennis. While they had a good time, they weren’t expected to get college scholarships. They were just supposed to get some exercise and learn about sportsmanship.
They also followed other interests. All four were in plays at the local high schools. One son joined a robotics club and went to the national competition a couple of times.
Now he works for a computer chip manufacturer. His brother was in the high school choir and got a college scholarship. He toured Europe a couple of times with his college choir.
I suppose my wife and I could have done more checkbook parenting, but we just didn’t have the money, or the interest.
We didn’t take fancy vacations. In fact, the only vacation that comes to mind is the one that we won at a fundraising auction. It was a week at Lake Havasu, Arizona. In August. It was 116 degrees each day. We also spent a few days in Phoenix, where it was just as hot. Their uncle taught the kids how to hunt scorpions with machetes.
Now there’s a family activity for everyone! And it was free.
Carl Sampson is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in Stayton.
