...but due to my locale I/we have to drive 1426km to Edmonton to have the darn thing. The doctors demand you go 2 weeks prior to the due date also. but you have to stay in a hotel until you are in labour and if its a healthy delivery 8 hours later you are on the street. Then if its late I'll still be there,at that point on unpaid leave also having only 2 weeks holiday. Then there is the 2 to 3 days drive home with tired mommy and newborn. Also I have to pay for my Mom to fly up to the house to look after the dogs and house while we are south. And anything else I can't think of...oh yeah the gas price being 115/litre here and at 14 litres per 100km...hmmm. So that $180,000 to raise a child to 18 gets a whopping big headstart if you live in the north and aren't native.
I have a bit of an advantage over what you chaps had in that she gets 93% of her wage for six months and full unemployment payments for the final six months, so next may or june Melissa will still be at home off work.
And many thanks for the good wishes.
Sean
And speaking of gas prices...40 bucks a barrel is the same price it was in 1991, but the gas price rose dramatically to 67cents a litre, so why is it from 91-115 cents a litre ,now, if the price per barrel is the same. I haven't got a 50% raise since then so it can't be labour costs....