The Joy of Parenting

What's the Cost of Raising a Child?

Singapore is having less and less babies. All the incentive don't work.
Of course what. Say one thing, do another thing. So many rules.
Mothers must be below 31.
Adoption procedures so slow
Adoption children not entitled to child relief.
High maid levy (when levy is more than maid's salary), how to ask wife to work
Cannot walk around naked at home.
No oral sex.
No adult educational video.

Govt says: "Come on, be more productive. For the nation, for the nation".
Some complain that this is a personal matter. "Everything also must get involved", some said.

Here's one reader shared about the joy of parenting:

Naming rights. Glimpses of God every day. Giggles under the covers every
night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. A hand to hold,
usually covered with jam.

A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and
skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain. Someone to laugh yourself
silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that
day.

.. you never have to grow up. You get to finger-paint, play
hide-and-seek, and never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse
to keep reading the Adventures Of Pooh and watching Saturday-morning
cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars...

... there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero
just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training
wheels off the bike, removing a splinter...

You get a front-row seat to history to witness the first step, first word,
first date, and first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree,
and, if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called
grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,
communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. You have all the
power to heal a booboo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a
broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them
without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the
cost.