Where will I find an extra $16,500?

That is an estimate of how much a newborn child will cost you the first year of their life. Crazy, huh? I just read this article in the new issue of Elle magazine. The article was written by a woman plagued with the decision to have or not to have kids. It was a strictly secular view, but she made some really good points. Having a kid is really also a financial decision. Most women, many I know personally, only view having children as filling emotional or physical need. Not that there is anything wrong with having children for that reason. The article brought out that most people don't look at the decision with dollars and cents (or sense) $16,500 the first year. I am thinking seriously about just getting another cat.

People with children are twice as likely as their childless counterparts to file for bankruptcy or have a foreclosure on their house. The writer also talked about the option of moving in with her parents. They even did an experimental "baby fund" to curve spending to see if they were serious about sacrificing the luxuries in life to have a child. They totally caved.

I think the writer is in the same boat I find myself in. I love children. I would love to be a mother. I just don't see it being financially possible with what my husband and I make. It wouldn't be fair to us or a child. Thats surpasses any desire I may have. In addition, where would I have time to raise a child? I just don't think I could do it. There are a lot of people who say, "If you wait until you have the perfect circumstances to have a baby (or to get married) it will never happen." Hey, that is fine with me. I don't have to have a child to feel completed, fulfilled or satisfied as a woman. That may sound a little selfish, but it is really not. Who says that children are naturally the next step. I believe that not everyone is cut out to be a parent. Just as I feel that marriage isn't for everyone. I think it takes a lot of courage to go against the grain and do different from the crowd.

I know my anti-baby rant has gone on long enough.

On the lighter note, The Affair of the Necklace was a great jewel of a movie.