So, most of the normal graduations were in late May or early June… high school and college… that is. And everywhere you looked… yard signs, business signs, advertising signs… it was all about congratulating the kids. Don’t get me wrong… surviving 12 to 16 years of schooling and making it to graduation day is an accomplishment that deserves recognition and I’m all for that. But the people who really need and rarely get recognition are the parents who have survived those same years plus a few more.
Before we discuss the emotional and health costs, let’s talk dollars and cents. Well, really there is no use bothering with the cents when you get to numbers this big. In today’s world the average cost to raise a kid to 18 years old is nearly $400,000! Just think about it. The median household income in Kentucky is just over $60,000 a year. I know the math is not this simple, but if you “do the math,” these numbers say that over a third of the median family’s household income goes to raising a child.
But the important part about this is not the money. The important part is the emotional effort put into raising a kid. Let’s face it… anyone who has raised a child to be an adult knows it is a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year job that comes with no breaks… no vacations and more than a few sleepless nights.
I’m not going to go into all the challenges and issues of raising a child. Needless to say, it is different for every parent and God knows kids don’t pop out holding an instruction booklet and a warranty card. It is definitely a learn-as-you-go, on-the-job training project. Having said that, thank God kids are resilient and can survive most of our parental screwups.
The bottom line is raising a child from birth to adulthood is a huge and expensive proposition with an emotional price that can’t be measured. I will always remember sitting next to my mom at my big brother’s high school graduation and hearing her say… under her breath… when they handed him his diploma and called out his name… “Thank God, they can’t take it away from him now!” I guess Mom and Dad did a pretty good job raising Big Brother, as he went on to be a Marine who fought for his country, raised a son of his own and is an extremely successful businessman. Thank goodness Mom lived to see Big Bro and myself able to take care of ourselves and our own families. Sadly, Dad did not live that long.
I knew we had done it pretty well with our son when, after Twila was nearly killed in a horrific car crash and had to spend three months in a bed in a rehab hospital, he stepped up, took care of the house, took care of the pets and helped keep Twila’s spirits up with regular visits – sneaking her strawberry milkshakes.
Anyway, my main point here is being a good parent, raising a child from babyhood to adulthood, is not for the faint of heart. But the rewards are beyond description and worth every bit of the investment and worry. So, CONGRATS to all you Class of 2024 Parents. As Elle Woods in Legally Blonde so eloquently sort of put it… “YOU DID IT!” Now, take a hopefully not too short break while you wait for the grandkids to start showing up!