7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 151)

1
Recent studies state that it costs $400,000 to raise a child from birth till college graduation.  This seems a rather inflated price and we did a few number crunches to estimate just how much one child costs us financially.  Our figure came in much lower, though admittedly we save an enormous bundle not having child care and private school costs.  Our estimation came in at roughly $5300 a year, that is $100,000 from birth till school graduation.  Folks, children simply don’t need the latest gadgets, what they do need is lots of love.

2
We signed up this week for a free fortnight’s trial of maths seeds, aimed at 3-6year olds.  Helpfully the children were able to take an assessment test first, we were pleasantly surprised at just how much Jem, 4 knew.  We weren’t that surprised at Jack Jack’s(6) placement either, he tested off the program so they just couldn’t help him.

3
Have you ever heard of anyone being allergic to flannel?  Last year one of our boys had itchy, inflamed toes all winter, we thought maybe his soccer socks was the cause.  We’ve isolated the cause to flannel sheets, he has gone back to cotton sheets and all is well.

4
I always find it interesting to see what readers search for on my blog.  I do admit to amusement this week to see some one has been searching for ‘birth control’, my friends, you’re wasting your time looking for birth control on this blog.

5
People astound me sometimes, you meet someone, exchange a few pleasantries and they start spilling their lives, or their pet peeves, before really knowing you, your background and your loyalties.

6
We’ve been learning the 10 commandments this last week, with ease and having lots of fun.  Jem in particularly loves the memory game, pleading to play several games each day.  It is rather odd though to hear your 4 year old say, “You must not commit adultery.” ah yeah.

7
We became huge Biggest Loser fans this season, and we so wanted the Green Team to win, though after the massive show of integrity from Orange, at the end of the show we were also barracking for them.  Needless to say we did not, along with most of Australia, want the Blue team to win.  Their complete lack of integrity and fair play did not endear them to us.

Visit Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes.