Yesterday I introduced the topic for the rest of the week, The Cost of Raising Healthy Kids. I naïvely summarized all that needs to be done into four simple categories. No, I am not saying this is all you need to do. I will try not to argue the health issues. However, I will say the financial aspect of these four concepts.
Make sure the kids are active at school in Sports
When I was a kid, school sports and Gym were where you got in shape and stayed healthy. Good things like the Canadian Fitness Test and intramural floor hockey were staples for me. As has been pointed out, a lot of road hockey helped during the summer.
Do kids today have this kind of access? Governments are starting to figure out that it would be good for kids to exercise. Some want to make it mandatory for more of their academic career. I applaud and think it is a good idea.
That depends on whether the school has teachers and/or parents willing to help run these programs, and I would bet some schools either don’t have the equipment or volunteers to do it.
In I Thought Public School Was Free? I outlined some of the costs of having kids on the competitive teams at their High School. Now I know at my kid’s school, if there are kids who want to play but can’t afford it, there are attempts to help them out, but the kids’ parents have to be willing to ask for help. Having kids in this kind of activity no longer simply consists of buying them a pair of running shoes, it is some significant money, and that is for school teams.
Sign them up for sports at home in their spare time
I do this for my kids because I believe that if I left them to their own devices, they’d get into trouble (idle hands are the devil’s work, for lack of a better explanation).
My daughters play basketball, where if they play for in the house league, this will cost about $150-$200 (and shoes another $100 or so). Most of these leagues will offer financial help, again if the parents ask for it.
If my girls make competitive teams, now we are going up a level in costs, double the team fees to pay for tournaments and league dues. Shoes and such are the exact cost. However, now they travel out-of-town 2-5 times over 7 months, where I have to pay to get them there, to stay in a hotel and feed myself. I budget at least $1200 for this (per child), which is conservative.
What if my daughters played hockey? In the words of Paulie Walnuts in the Sopranos, “Fugget about it!”, that is another level higher, just for house league, and if my son wants to play, it is even more insane. I won’t quote numbers because I really don’t know (if anyone cares to comment, please feel free to enlighten or shock us).
Remember, if your child (or children) play more than one sport, this is all additive. Yup, the Government has introduced a $500 write-off for active kids (per child), which is very welcome, but it does not stop me from spending the money, and $500 is a small portion of the money going out as well.
Yes, I willingly pay this because I think my kids want to do this (I do ask, “Are you having fun?”, because if they aren’t, why am I paying this much money?), and because I think it is essential too, but if I didn’t have the money to pay for it, what would my kids be doing?
Follow On Stories
I wrote two follow-up stories that you can also read:
