Kid Expenses

Today I got a call from my children's school. Imp had broken the zipper on his winter jacket. Like REALLY unfixable broken. On Boxing Day I had actually scored a HUGE deal on a winter jacket, but I deliberately got it bigger for NEXT year (or even the year after). I ran it into the school, but as I knew, it was too big. Much too big. Fine for today, but definitely not for the rest of the winter. I then made trails into town to SportMart and bought him a new jacket. THANKFULLY it was on sale, as were the ski pants (his current pair are safety pinned and duct taped . . . seriously, there is NOTHING that duct tape can't fix!). So I went ahead and bought snow pants as well. Of course while we're there, Teen announces that she needs shoes for gym for next semester; which starts next week. We look at shoes. I see nothing wrong with the $30 shoes. She *LOVES* the $120 shoes. So we compromised with $60 shoes. None-the-less, I dropped a pretty hefty chunk of cash. Cash I wasn't expecting to part with today.

The reality is: Kids aren't cheap. Not at all.

For me, it started right back to the day when I had the realization that I might be pregnant with buying the tests. Yes, testS. Plural. Originally I bought ONE. Along with some gum, kleenex, facial wash and shampoo. When that one showed a positive I went right back to the store and bought several more. Like pretty much every single brand they had. Yeah, DEFINITELY not cheap.

Then comes the maternity clothes, the baby gear, the extra food, transportation to and from appointments, u/s pictures, and in my case, TV at the hospital during the times I was in for treatment of dehydration from the puking (for the record . . . that is NOT cheap).

Then baby arrives, and WOW . . . the circumcision (in the event of a boy), the diapers, the wipes, the creams, the food, the new gear that comes with growing babies. And when you start adding in MORE children, the need for a bigger vehicle arrives, and life insurance, and RRSP's, RESP's, savings accounts. It's CRAZY!!

The sad part?! That's probably the 'cheapest' part of our children's lives. As they grow older, they have more needs. They're growing children and need clothes and footwear. Some of us are lucky and blessed to have hand-me-downs, but usually the hand-me-down train stops. Then there is groceries; furnishings; activity expenses; equipment and uniforms for their activities; family trips; toys; gear; school stuff; school trips; pizza and sub days; entertainment; medical insurance; drug co-pays; orthodontics . . . it goes on and on.

While I DO sometimes complain about the costs, the reality is, I knew they were to be expected. Kids aren't cheap. LIVING isn't cheap. Period. I certainly don't spoil my children and give into their every whim, but I DO indulge them to a treat once in awhile (that's my right as a parent), and both my other half and I indulge ourselves at times too. I want for them and us to be involved with activities and to do things including vacations, sports events, concerts. It's part of growing up. I also am a big advocate of the fact that when it comes to certain things (winter gear; footwear), you get what you pay for, so I admit, I tend to go higer end on those items. The other reality is that eventually they WON'T need us financially (or so I hope!), although before we get there we'll incur some HUGE expenses (university 3x over!!!), so no worry of that just yet. You know, because I love the money suck from these 3 kids and am happy to be involved for many more years (and really - I am!! I live for doing with and for my kids).

In the upcoming days I'm about to be stung with school expenses for the start of a new semester. At least I don't have to worry about gym shoes, right?!