Most Expensive Thing

The question of the day (see link list on the right) a few days ago was "What's the most expensive thing you own?" Of course the first thought to come to my head was our house, my car, our t.v.... things along those lines. But really, the most expensive thing is probably our kids. If you add up the stuff we have to buy for them (diapers, clothes, formula, food, toys, movies, books, shoes, on and on and on for the next 20 years) it comes out to a lot of money. Add to that the increased healthcare costs, time lost from work in not working longer hours, taking off on days they're sick, and so forth, and they're the most expensive things in our lives.

When Archer was first born one of our neighbors said to us, "I wish I had kept track of everything I spent money on for my daughter." At first it sounds like a novel idea, it would be fun (or horrifying?) to know exactly how much money the kids are costing us. And then, when I thought about it more, I thought - its not something I really want to keep track of. What would be the point of that? Nothing good can come from a list of expenses. Here is the thing about parenthood - you can never get in the mindset that you deserve repayment for everything you spend for your kids. If you did that, where would it leave you? With empty pockets and probably an empty heart. Kids give and give and give but not in the same way the parent gives. So keeping track completely dismisses everything they give, since you can't really list it as a tangible object.

Its also got me thinking, though, about how I can give to my kids without spending money, since what they really need from us as parents isn't more stuff, its more time. I find myself so often getting caught up in the daily stuff like cleaning and cooking and getting work done, that by the time I go to bed at night I realize I've hardly spent much quality time with my family. And so the balancing act continues...