Or Can You Trade One in for a Nice Family Vacation?

According to a recent government estimate, the cost of raising a child from birth to age 17 is $222.360. There's a bunch of qualifiers in this estimate, of course, with variations in that estimate by geography, income level and age of the child. The study is raising some eyebrows as sociologists and other experts consider the impact that the economy is having on couples' decisions to have children or to wait. Many are understandably deciding to wait for more stability in their personal finances before commencing on what is a truly wonderful and life-changing (albeit expensive) chapter of their lives.

The study itself has some interesting tidbits. For example, the study cites that:

• Housing is the most expensive part of raising a child (agreed - though Daniel seems to have a heckuva lot of trains)
• The annual cost of a child raises as the child grows older (maybe this is partially attributed to the increasing difficulty of saying "no" to a child's desire for toys. Or put another way, sticking a sobbing Sophia in the shopping cart and rushing her out of Target isn't going to work so well when she's 16 But I'm still reserving the right to spank her.)
• The cost per child is less for two-families than single-child families (this is basic "economies of scale" at work, which is all well and good since Carissa will have two and only two choices in terms of hobbies; if her siblings didn't choose it already, tough luck kid)

At $12,000 to $13,000 per year, that's still a good chunk of change. Sarah probably wouldn't appreciate it if I told Daniel and Sophia, "Hey, guess what? We're going to a Disney cruise followed with a week at DisneyWorld! Oh wait, sorry, your mom and I decided to have Carissa instead. Why don't you watch her as she sits and drools on the bouncy seat? It'll almost be as fun as DisneyWorld."

Of course I jest. For $12,000, we would've definitely done something much cooler than the Disney Cruise.