Debt ceiling; Standard and Poor's credit rating; political footballs getting tossed back and forth across the legistlative aisle---it's kind of scary listening to the news lately.  My favorite part of the news pundits wisdom compares household finances with the gazillions of dollars of national budget and debt.  As if.

All this brings to mind a story I recently heard from the Freakonomics guys.  It just so happened I only heard the last part of the broadcast about the economics of parenting which discussed, in part, how becoming a parent is not based in sound financial theories.  Some of the discussion included how much effort some parents put forth to keep their children safe from statistically low threats such as being kidnapped by a stranger while perhaps not putting forth the same level of effort to avoid much more common dangers like a backyard pool.  If parents applied economic theories to parenting, resources might better be applied more toward water safety than stranger danger.

I found it intriguing and sensible except for the other story at the top of the newsline that day:  Leiby Kletzky had just been found dismembered after apparently accepting help from a stranger on his very first walk home alone from school.  My heart just broke for his family. It was very difficult not to think of Leiby during this broadcast.  Such advice makes great sense---until it doesn't. Nothing makes sense when an innocent 8 year old dies scared and alone at the hands of a stranger.

Addressing why people want to become parents when it makes so little practical sense was another aspect covered in this discussion.  I could not answer that question:  why did I want to become a parent?  I have no idea.  I just knew I wanted to but I have no idea why.  It is expensive financially and emotionally.  All those resources spent and the time flashes by in the blink of an eye.  Not always a good return on the investment if you are judged by personal belongings or the state of your household. 

Of course you don't know this at the beginning even if you did listen to the Freakonomics show.  You read books, you listen to child experts, you follow the current child rearing standards and you open yourself to an experience that can't be described.  Or documented in an accounting journal.  You raise your own debt ceiling many many times until the child is on his or her own.  Your credit rating might suffer.  You and your spouse might disagree throughout.  You react to those news stories about isolated cases of children kidnapped by strangers and a whole host of other threats to your child's well being. 

But I don't think I'm the only parent in our group who feels very very wealthy.  I know it might not have made financial sense to become a parent, but I do lots of things that go against current economic advice.  None of those things have made me feel as enriched as I do when I think about our little family.  And I hope the same for all of you today and in the future.