[boefixepa]

Very interesting thread. To me it falls into the Orange Juice Category.... Let me explain.

When I left home to go to college there were 5 girls living in this basement apartment. Quite the adjustment, let me tell you. Well I learned that we each had a different way of making OJ from those concentrate tubes. I nuked mine (no it doesn't catch on fire), another one kept a container in the fridge, another soaked it hot water etc..etc.. you get the idea. No matter the method, in the end we all ended up with OJ. At first, I tried to tell them they were doing it 'wrong.' I finally came to the realization that none of us were 'wrong.' We were different, and that was just fine.

Each person is different, each person looks at things differently, each person has a different life, different priorities, different beliefs.

You can't make a blanket statement and think it will work for all people ... it won't. Though a face value it makes sense, it simply does not and will not work for all people. Or even most people for that matter.

As a general rule, I think OP has a point. However, most people do not see children in terms of money, they are so much more then that. So many 'intangable things. Wether they should or not, it just as debateable a point.

Take me, I would have happily gotten married and had kids earlier in life, but I didn't find my hubby until I was 31. I knew on our second date, that this would be the man I would marry. He was 30.

Fast forward a year. I am six weeks away from giving birth to our first child a week or so short of our first weeding anniversary. The baby was completely planned. As my hubby teases when I say it was his fault 'there was a computer program involved!' (I used a program to help track my cycle so I'd never need pills, and knew when I could concieve, best $20 I ever spent!) Some people would say that we should have waited longer to have kids, but we felt this was right ... FOR US. There are some couples that even I would say ... wait a few years.

I will be quiting on April 25th. We will be losing 1/2 our income because of this. Running rough numbers we figure it will cost me over one million dollars in lost income to stay home and raise our babies (hope to have 3 or 4) in the next 20 years ... probably more. I plan to a SAHM, a homeschooler, and make raising babies my job. Because that is what is important TO US. TO US you can't put a dollar value on that. Yes, I make enough to afford day care, good day care, and still take home decent money. But I WANT to raise my babies. I WANT to be there for all their milestones. etc.

Life happens, I may not get everything, or anything I want, for that matter. But this is plan, and this is what I am working for. I have seen all different kinds of approaches work and not work. Different strokes for different folks.

You can't make a blanket statement!