Sting in the Tale

There was a really fascinating article by writer Nick Louth on MSN recently (read the full piece here http://money.uk.msn.com/Investing/Insight/Special_Features/Active_Investor/article.aspx?cp-documentid=892488) in which he asks the question ‘Are kids worth it?’  He presents a strong argument against having children, mostly financial, but finally reveals himself as a dad and concludes: “However daft it may seem to economists, parental altruism still seems to earn a fat return in love. When so much in the world boils down to pounds and pence, it is somehow comforting that the relationship between parents and their kids isn’t like that.When it comes to kids, love may cost us dear, but we don’t care.” 

There was much in the piece that got me thinking, as well as wanting to punch the computer screen with indignant rage – how dare he compare kids to a financial investment! – but it was his last comment that stuck.  Love does indeed cost us dear and not only when it comes to kids. In the early stages of love affairs I have maxed out the credit cards on lavish weekends away in fantastically expensive hotels, bought expensive gifts and love tokens that I can ill afford, gone completely crazy in Top Shop, French Connection etc. for THE outfit, run up monstrous mobile bills, taken time off work to indulge my passion, and so on and so on. I’m not unusual.  We all do completely barmy things when we fall in love and things being what they are in the Western world most of them cost.  Not to mention the expense when love breaks down…Children are no different.  But thankfully our emotional life is not dictated to by pounds, shillings and pence and love, especially the unconditional variety that comes with kids, is the most powerful emotion of them all. And even if you’ve not got a pot to pee in if you love and are loved then you are truly rich. 

“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.” Friedrich Nietzsche