HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!!

Back when I first found out that I was pregnant, I spent some time suffering over what choice to make and all the considerations I had. It just so happen to be Sophie's lucky day when we were chatting back and forth online when I was at one of my "kill me now" moments. Hahaha! She sent me an email that I will now share with all of you....at the end of this. I realized after reading the email that I had been spending so much time thinking about how this pregnancy WAS NOT GOING TO WORK for me and no time at all looking at what could work. I have spent the last 9 years of my life loving my friend's children. I don't know how many times I would come home from work and bake into the late hours of the night making cookies and scooby snacks to put together gift baskets for all major holidays for kids in my life. The amount of joy that it brought me to do that. The email also reminded me of all the things that I have accomplished when most people thought I was INSANE! I was reminded that when I put my mind to something, I'm unstoppable and produce astounding results in my life.

So, I share this with all of you...for the days when you're stopped, accept it. Turn it around by acknowledging what you like about your life, what works about your life. There's always an opportunity, moment by moment to choose which way your day is going to go. Surrender to the reality of what is actually going on and ask yourself, "What do I want to create here"?

Anyway, enjoy this. It's long but all so worth reading!
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle-income family.. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.
It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year
* $741.38 a month
* $171.08 a week
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour
Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day
* Giggles under the covers every night
* More love than your heart can hold
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint
* carve pumpkins
* play hide-and-seek
* catch lightning bugs
* never stop believing in Santa Claus

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
* watch Saturday morning cartoons
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day. For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof
* taking the training wheels off a bike
* removing a splinter
* filling a wading pool
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step
* First word
* First bra
* First date
* First time behind the wheel

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!! Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren! It's the best investment you'll evermake!