According to my Parenting and Child Guidance textbook, “It has been estimated that about one-fourth of the total lifetime income of a typical middle-class family in the United States is devoted to meeting the costs of having and raising a child from birth through age 18.”

When I read this to my little sister Christine, she said, “Poor mom and dad had to raise SEVEN of us!” And then, “Mom, you guys would be filthy rich without us!”

My mother, without hesitation, said “We ARE rich! We are overflowing with beautiful children!”

It made me want to cry.
I love my mother. ❤