The Million Dollar Kid

An article I discovered...

$1 million to raise a kid today? Get serious

By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr.
P-I COLUMNIST

A brand new Porsche? Or a runny-nosed kid?

That is the choice a lot of my single guy friends were joking about after a recent Wall Street Journal article burned across the Internet like a raging forest fire.

The piece called "The Million-Dollar Kid" talked about how government figures have put the cost of raising a child at $279,000 -- a conservative estimate, the paper argued.

In our culture of conspicuous consumption run amok, that figure can easily top $1 million.

Think about it, folks: a million bucks to raise a child from birth to age 17!

I was gobsmacked.

This being America -- home of the free, land of the crazed -- I've come to realize resistance might be futile.

I might be pressured to keep up with this acme of mindlessness because, well, everyone else is doing it -- or taking out second mortgages trying.

Junior will have nothing but the best, starting with his first wheels -- a Bugaboo stroller for $900 -- no need to pimp that ride. Surely it already has urban terrain wheels to mimic SUV cruisin'? What about hookups for his iTod to play "The Wiggles" greatest hits?

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And we'll need a nanny -- my future wife and I. That will set us back 12 grand a year. (Yes, I'm cheap. A No-Frills Nanny will have to do).

Junior's Baby Gap wardrobe until he turns 6 will set me back $15,000, according to the March 3 article in the Journal. When Junior ditches the crib, I'm eyeing the $2,000 big-kid bed at Pottery Barn.

The kid's annual supply of organic oranges will cost $2,500 a year.

The price tag at the Bush School in Seattle is $15,000 a year -- given the state of the Seattle public schools, the kid will have to go private.

Junior might need braces for three or four grand -- if I don't have insurance.

And college is a must. It's $2,000 for the SAT prep course as soon as the kid shows promise by acing his "Farsi for 4-year-olds" class.

If I want the kid to see how real Chinese people live -- not just those plasticized stiffs at "The Bodies" exhibit -- I'll need to take him on a trip to China.

If Junior fails to thrive, a dose of child therapy -- topping $11,000 -- would be in order.

And if that fails, back to retail therapy.

None of the above takes into account tutoring, bottled-water delivery, nightly takeout, home electrical bills and guilt payments for spending more time at work than at home.

Add it up and there's something seriously wrong with this picture.

A serial case of affluenza has put society's priorities grossly out of whack. The Beatles got it wrong -- you can buy love.

Seriously, what kid really needs a stroller that costs more than a 20-year-old Volvo listed on Craigslist?

When I read the Journal piece, the thing that kept gonging in my mind is how so many kids in Washington are going without the basics.

More than 138,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17 -- about 13 percent -- lived in poverty in 2003, according to the latest available figures.

That means in an average school classroom of 30 kids, a handful are hungry, said Paola Maranan, executive director of the Children's Alliance, a Seattle-based statewide child-advocacy group.

In 2004, 36 percent of students in the state qualified for free and reduced lunches, up from 31 percent in 2000.

While some parents deluge kids with luxuries they don't need, other parents struggle with children in dire need.

Forget the Porsche. I choose the kid -- one who will be showered with parental love, not a love of material things.

The only million-dollar baby I'll pay for is the flick by that name. It rents at the local video store.

For four bucks.

My thoughts:

I do admit that I go a little (well, maybe a lot) excessive with the clothes and toys for my kids BUT first and foremost, I want to raise my kids with love! I want them to be happy, healthy, confident, and secure individuals. I want my kids to have morals, values, and beliefs. I want my kids to be comfortable with who they are, not with what they have. Much more important than all the material stuff, is spending quality time with my kids as a family, exploring the great outdoors, going to the beach, taking a walk in the rain, doing science experiments, singing and dancing to Johnny Cash, coloring and writing stories together, digging for treasure in the backyard, and just laughing and talking about our day!! This to me, is what being a parent is all about... who needs S1 million when you've got love???