A Bargain

I've probably mentioned this story before but it was brought to mind again this morning. Right after we made the decision to adopt and sent in the money, paperwork, etc., my then 11 year old daughter (I believe she was 11) asked me one day how much it costs to adopt her new sister. I told her and was surprised she didn't flinch.
My children both understand very well the value of a dollar. It was and is one of our parenting goals that they not immediately leave the nest and end up in debt by tens of thousands of dollars (like we did). They both have good savings that were given a good beginning by their Uncle Kevin and which they have essentially tripled on a paltry -- by their classmate's standards -- allowance of a couple dollars a week. They also pay for their hand stamp at the fair each year as well as purchase their own Christmas gifts and still manage to give to the church and buy more toys and junk than I feel is necessary :) over the course of a year. Sarah doesn't know it yet, but she will probably be getting her own checking account this next year now that she is no longer eligible for the kids programs at the bank so that she can learn to manage money she can't see. We often discuss the cost of things and vacations with them. We want them to be fairly grounded in reality when they have to manage money on their own.
So when I told her how much it costs, I knew that she had a good idea of about how much that actually is. Her response though pleasantly surprised me. She told me we were getting a bargain because we were getting a life for that amount. And after all, a life is priceless. I often think about that moment because I knew from her response that she GOT it. As much we will cherish this child, we will do so more because we know how truly precious her life is. And I would imagine that those adopting who don't have children already will recognize that to be the case even more so.