Being pregnant with each of my kids was the most exciting time in my life! I was also happy to nurse them for the first few months to a year for health reasons and to also avoid buying baby formula. As they got a little older, I remember my husband and I saying,
“Can’t wait until they’re out of diapers/Pull-ups.”
Then, it was,
“Whew! Can’t wait until we’re done paying for day care.”
But, something happens…All that money we wish for? It never really seems to appear.
To me, parenthood in all of it’s beauty, is like having your wallet on permanent SUCTION! Don’t get me wrong, I understand and appreciate that it is truly a blessing to have three healthy children, but man…it never ends. They are precious, but still expensive! For instance, just the other day at breakfast, this happened:
Me:(to my 13 year old): “Why are you wearing those jeans? They are too short.”
Son: “I know Ma. But you just bought these.”
Me:(gasp….sigh) “Wow.”
I want to blame it on all of the FOOD he eats. Dude needs a job! This “growing boy” of ours never stops eating. And shoes? Let’s not talk about shoes. I’m wondering if it’s too late to bind his feet like they did in the ancient Chinese culture? (Googling, right now.) I know I’m not the only one, I get it. Kids eat. They grow. They get bigger. I get it, but it’s mind-blowing how fast these kinds of things happened. But I digress…
Like most parents, my husband and I want our children to be well-rounded and acculturated little citizens, so we involve them in music, sports, traveling and miscellaneous entertainment activities. This isn’t so bad, because we get to see the return on our investments rather quickly. It’s when I hear people talking about their college-aged kids who are STILL in the wallet suctioning game, I start feeling hopeless. When do these children of ours ever get out of our pockets? Or what about weddings? Oh Lord! THREE weddings?! As the mother of one son and two daughters, I just have one question. Will I ever be able to afford my dream car and not be too old to drive it?
All jokes aside, with our 3rd child, we are not wishing for time to pass so quickly. We know now that we will never actually grasp that “magic amount” of money, that we try so hard to while we’re investing in our babies. We are trying to live in the moment and enjoy all of the precious milestones that parenting has to offer, but we still wish these kids weren’t so darn expensive!
BMWK – Can you relate to this?