The Price of Children

In high school, one of my favorite books was “Le Prix de l'excellence” - In Search of Excellence, by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman. The book came back to my conscious mind while I was watching “Quantum of Solace” – which literally would translate to ‘price of peace’. The movie and the book may not have anything to do with each other, but, my intellect associated them and I conclude that “There is a price to pay for everything”. More you value something, more it will cost you: “The price must be paid”.

When a parent says “I love my children very much”, the obvious question is “How much are you willing to pay to protect them?” Like peace, children have a price too. Obviously, many will quickly respond that children are priceless. That’s what I thought too – until recently. This answer is only emotional and; - forgive me please – only mental laziness dictates that. The reality is that children have a price: it’s the price that a parent is willing to pay to protect them from their enemies. “The price must be paid”.

Let’s say that you are a father and you love your kids very much. To a father’s eyes, his children are “priceless” - that is every father loves his children very much. I do not doubt that is true for every father I know – even those fathers that are kept away from their children by a US judge’s court order. A father would work hard to raise his children and see them prosper spiritually and materially and even better than he does. The children love, respect and obey him. You would think that’s it! Right? Well, that would be correct until jealousy and envy – personalized in real people around us – reveal themselves. Most people tend to use these two words interchangeably, but I recently learned the difference.

Jealousy is ... My thoughts continue here.