The end of free lunches

Having a baby was easy at first - at least, financially. When we first brought the little guy home, we pretty much had everything we needed for him, thanks to all the generous gifts we received. With everyone giving us clothes at the baby showers, we have enough for Kyle to make it through college without us having to buy him a single garment, as long as he remained two feet tall. The diapers did cost us some money, but we had also received a diaper cake (one of the few cakes that doesn't go well with ice cream), and we were able to live off it for a while. Even food wasn't a problem, as Jennifer provided that.

But now things are changing. Kyle is starting to enjoy the world of mushy goop Gerber claims to be a food substance and is willing to charge us for it. After starting off with rice cereal, we moved to applesauce, bananas and pears. We head into veggie territory next week. There was one more fruit option, called "prunes," but we decided to help Kyle become a picky eater by declaring that he wouldn't like it. I think we have to wait 'til he's at stage two before we can say that he won't like anchovies, either.

This past weekend, as we waited in line to purchase the goop, a supermarket supervisor noticed Kyle and gave a big smile. At first I thought it was because we have an adorable little child, but I soon learned I was wrong.

"Do you know what we call him?" he asked Jennifer.

"No... what do you call him?"

"A CD."

And no, he did not mean CD as in compact disc, though I'm sure I could create him a "Kyle Wails the Blues" album if so desired. No... the supermarket looks at our child as a Certificate of Deposit - guaranteed money for decades which will only grow as he grows older.

As the supervisor left us laughing maniacally, Kyle wet another diaper and grew out of his onesie. Suddenly my wallet is feeling a whole lot lighter.