You still remember the day when you held your bundle of joy in your hands. You were in tears, of joy. Today, your child is your life. You come back home after a tiring day at work. But your little one’s smile cheers you up instantly. What joy it is to have a child around! Of course, you have plans for him/her. But are they concrete? Have you charted the plans considering the uncertainties tomorrows could hold? Is your answer a confident yes? Or a casual shrug of the shoulders is all you have for one? Whatever the case may be, here are a few points that would help you get the bigger picture.
Schooling for him/her, schooling for you
If both you and your partner are working, it’s likely that you leave him/her at a daycare. In this case, you start spending considerable amounts of money on your child quite early in life. Even if this is not the case, you will have to send him/her to a playschool/preschool by the time he/she turns two or at the max three. While he/she learns numbers and alphabets there, you learn to cope with the staggering numbers (read fees). A decent preschool will easily cost you anything between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 100,000. Planning well in advance – the earlier the better- will help you keep unpleasant surprises at bay.
School is not just about academics
A lot of parents tend to give this one a miss. What you pay as fee may cover the expenses for academics. But schooling is not just about that. There is a lot of activities that takes place every now and then that demands you having deeper pockets. Imagine, the school is organizing a musical on Cinderella. Your son/daughter is ecstatic to have been chosen to play the titular role. How about the costume? You have to buy them. Be it arts or sports, you’ll be bearing the expenses. It’s better to be prepared and stay aware of the ‘hidden’!
They jet around for study tours
Back in the day your school took you to Kanyakumari or Agra for study tours. Those days are over. Today’s kids’ study tours involve globetrotting. It has become a norm for schools to take children to foreign countries. And one of the most popular destinations with elite schools in the metros is the NASA space camp, USA. Yes, you read it right. How much a trip would cost? Anything between Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh!
Birthdays, parties, higher education.
Your 3-year old is ecstatic about her birthday being celebrated at home with his/her friends. His/her 13-year old self, however, will have a totally different idea about birthday celebrations, thanks to ‘peer pressure’. He/she’ll drag you to that fancy restaurant and invite his/her three dozen ‘close pals’. Then there’s higher education, cultural fests, parties… the expenses will simply skyrocket. Just like the way your lifestyle is not what it used to be around 10 years back, your child’s is not going to be the same after 10 years. In their case, the changes will be faster. Moreover, on the academics front, he/she may be nursing aspirations to study robotics at MIT or neuroscience at John Hopkins. Your duty is to facilitate the journey, by building a bridge between their aspirations and reality.
