The "Cost" of raising kids

http://www.parentsconnect.com/articles/cost_of_raising_kids.jhtml

I found this article published by the government to be quite laughable. First of all, because our tax monies is going towards paying multiple people to work on this project every year. Second of all because it's just crazy! According to this Chart we "should" be spending about $15,700 a year on baby E, for a grand total of $290K until she's 18. I think part of the reason that these numbers are a bit inflated is because it includes housing and transportation, but we always considered that a sunk cost because whether or not she existed we'd have a house and cars. THe one that really strikes me is food: $1630. What the heck are you feeding your baby that costs almost $2k a year. Even if you bought only Earth's best and organic everything it STILL won't cost you that much. Eesh. I'm just lazy and E eats whatever we're eating and whatever we have around the house (Her newest fave being tortilla chips). Anywho, just wanted to share this article.

Transitions and Spirituality

It is no secret that as young adults, we experience many changes. Very few of us are stationary during these years of our lives. Many of us attend college, begin careers, move out of our parents' home, move back into our parents' home, change roommates, get married, begin families... You get my drift. It seems as though year to year, things are always very different!

One of my biggest challenges has been maintaining my spiritual life and habits through major transitions. Its obvious that my spiritual life would be different as a single person than it would as a married woman. After the wedding however, my husband and I were surprised how difficult it was to learn to pray together throughout the day.

Most recently I became a mother-- and in the midst of the sleepless nights, feeding schedules and diaper changes, I realized that I was barely praying anymore. Many of my spiritual habits that I had previously formed no longer seemed compatible with my daily life. As much as I enjoyed it in the past, reading 20 minutes from a spiritual book before bed is just not compatible with my sleep deprivation! At this time I can barely concentrate long enough to read a silly magazine article! That being said, I have been so caught up in my newborn that I hadn't developed a new spiritual plan to grow in my vocation as a mother. I need to be creative in finding ways to make my new daily routine prayerful, and hopefully form new habits. As my baby grows, I need to continually make adjustments to my spiritual life (hopefully bring back spiritual reading) based on where God is calling me. It truly is beautiful how our journey here on earth is always changing and allowing us to grow in different ways.

CARITAS IN VERITATE

Our Holy Father's newest encyclical is here! It's focus is a topic we've discussed recently, truth in love, and his insights are brilliant. I haven't finished it myself, but once I started, I could hardly stop, and I can't wait to read more.

He begins by discussing the need for charity to always include truth, and vice-versa. He states, “Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity.” Without seeking to share the truth and enlighten those around us, we are not truly loving anyone. “Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations."

He discusses the need for development of the human person in a world where the focus is on development in science and technology. In the context of this development, he stresses the importance of fraternal love, “Underdevelopment has an even more important cause than lack of deep thought: it is “the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples”[52]. Will it ever be possible to obtain this brotherhood by human effort alone? As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers.” The brotherhood needed is one of love in truth. Our Holy Father wishes us to develop friendships where we call one another to higher virtue, where we push each other to become better human beings, to become what the Lord wants us to be: His saints. As my friends, please always call me on my vices, for that is what sisters in Christ do.

That's just the first few chapters, so I can't wait to read the rest, as I'm sure he'll have so much more insight into this subject, and how we can impact the world, spreading love in truth.