Money is Not Everything

Right now there is a giant sink hole in my home where I am throwing endless amounts of money. This hole sits quietly waiting to be fed and for some reason once it is open the hole’s appetite cannot be sated. Some might call it a money pit, but I call it raising kids.

Yesterday I bought four new tires for our daughters car. There had been a flat and a tire was needed. Once I arrived at the tire store it was clear that the tires that were on their car were…well…crap, so the money had to be spent. Then I took my youngest to get her license (hooray!) and called the insurance company to add said daughter to the insurance and just when the bruise of this money punch was forming I received the bill for my middle daughters first semester of college. BAM, knockout punch!

I spent the rest of the day wondering what new thing might happen next that would require a money bath. Welcome to raising kids. The old saying goes “little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems” my new saying goes; little kids, little expenses, big kids, big expenses. When Mark told me later in the evening that one of the girls texted him that the check engine light had come on in their car, I just said “Of course it did!”

What good is this money we parents have if we cannot use it to keep our children safe and healthy? The truth is no matter how old they get I will be here when they need me and if it makes sense to help them I will. Money is not everything, but my kids are. Please know that I am not an enabler and if they are drinking or doing drugs I am not going to supplement their habits, but if they are making their way and hit a bump in the road and I can help them somehow, I will.

This does not mean that I won’t be a little frustrated at watching the cash fall one dollar after another into the sink hole. It can be a little sad watching money you have saved or money you have to borrow disappear faster than you can say “Money is not everything!” The good news is the car has great new tires, my youngest is out and about driving among all of you (watch for her) and my middle daughter will go off to college and hopefully get a great job to pay off the loan and my oldest is here at home getting back on her feet. Because money is not everything, but my kids are!



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