and at that age/developmental stage, she needs $6k/yr worth of music/tutoring lessons?

I live in a cheap, economically depressed area, I'm sure 20k isn't unreasonable if you live in an expensive city.

as a non-parent, when everyone says say "childcare" in this context what does that entail? Just daycare while parents are at work?

I think it means different things to different people, and also depends on the age of your child. I pay $10,500 per year for day care for my 1.5 year old, if i were to add in food, clothing, medical co-pays, toys, etc., the number would be far far higher.

While at that age $6k/yr for lessons is out of the question. We spend more than +$20k/year on sports alone for 1 child. That didn't include travel expenses for the family to go to events scattered from Maine to Virginia and west to Ohio. It didn't help that he chose to participate in one of the most expensive sports .. ice hockey. I still wouldn't change it for the world, what he gained from that experience is priceless as are the memories.

This thinking drives me bonkers. If you can afford it, by all means, do it. It's great. But its pure luxury and was completely unnecessary.

There are like a bajillion ways you can give your kid just as valuable experiences/memories/life lessons w/o dropping 20 grand a year. Hockey is one of the most expensive sports around and I'd argue not even the best sport for actually teaching positive sportsmanship (and that's coming from a Canadian). There are lots of alternatives that cost way less than this.

And that's the point. It's not that people shouldn't spend this much money on things they want to have and do. It's that you shouldn't make the choice to spend this money and then think you have the right to ***** about being poor or about struggling or about anything else. And if some family is forced to sacrifice the $20k/year hockey experience for their kids in order to pay taxes for another family to get basic health care - I don't give a ****.

^nailed it

now let us lol @ the fact that bit about ice hockey was crafted in response to me asking a diff poster if their 1.5 year old child could use $6k/yr of music lessons

I don't know. Canadians have hockey and good health care.

Spending $20k/yr on a niche non-school funded sport for a child hardly qualifies as justification that $x amount of $$ is not enough. He could have just played soccer.

We're just better than you.

Edit: The vast majority of parents dread their kid wanting to play hockey.

New healthcare bill being unveiled today per Buzzfeed

It's $1500 a month per kid in northern VA / DC for anything decent.

So whatever dumb crap they come up with, they still won't have enough Dems to crossover right?

I read his comment to mean that lower incomes and desertification lead to less healthy food 'choices' and consequently worse health outcomes. I think that's a reasonable statement. Not all food is equally good for you.

Gonna skyrocket soon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.915101193d80

Not related to you specifically but this is an interesting addition to the "do you need a degree for child care"?

http://mattbruenig.com/2017/04/01/co...or-child-care/

I wonder if this "new" healthcare bill will skyrocket from 17 percent public approval to an astounding 25 percent public approval?

I was listening to a discussion last night about Trump's Sunday afternoon golf outing with Rand Paul. Senator Paul made a comment to reporters that "progress was being made" or something along those lines. Mark Meadows, the leader of the Freedom Caucus, indicated that while no deal has been agreed to "in principle," discussions [with the Trump administration] are moving in the right direction. The commentators I was listening to pointed out that if Trump is moving closer to something that will be palatable to both Rand Paul and a majority of the Freedom Caucus, whatever that "deal" is will almost certainly be DOA once it gets to the Senate. (Unless it's a vote to repeal - and not replace - the Affordable Care Act, I doubt if this new bill will even make it out of the House, but what do I know?)

It must be true that Team Trump believes significant tax reform will be impossible without squeezing hundreds of billions of dollars of "savings" out of health care spending. One thing's for sure ... Trump won't let Paul Ryan schedule a House vote unless he knows they've got the votes to pass. A second (even more) humiliating defeat would be disaster for Trump. With all the tweets, threats, arm twisting and golf outings, Trump is buying this tar baby. He will own this one - he can't shuck it off on Paul Ryan if it fails a second time.

super scary stuff.

also, pretty sure the russians pumped this into the moscow theater when some terrorists took it over and half the ppl died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow...hostage_crisis

The Russians apparently had antidotes that could have saved all those people - but they didn't want to admit to what gas they used.

Not a particularly important addition but it reminded me of how growing up, my sister did ice skating and horseback riding while I did basketball and boxing. To this day my sister can't truly grasp why our father 'supported' my pursuits more than hers.

I guess I could add that basketball is the greatest sport/physical game ever created and I'd tell all parents to encourage their children to play.

Also, apparently raradevils procreated so there goes my good mood.

imo hockey is like basketball but with more upper body work when battling for possession against others. I play in a street hockey league (so, running not skating, less expensive equipment-wise!) and it's a blast.

Knoxville, TN will be left without a provider in 2018 as last one declares plan to exit market

http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/04/news...are-tennessee/

This will be touted as SEE SEE WE TOLD YOU but THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT THE GODDAMN PUBLIC OPTION WAS FOR

No.

Sure.