Goodbye to the most expensive month of the year!

Anyone who says that December is the most expensive month of the year doesn’t have children.

This month, we spent:

• $100+ on school supplies for the boys
• $1000 for Sarah’s year of preschool (three mornings per week)
• $250 for Evan’s band fees
• $135 for Alex’s Boys’ Choir fees
• $70 for first term of Highland Dance for Sarah
• $118 for Alex’s Cub Registration
• $30 for the boys’ Religious Education fees
• $60 for indoor sneakers

This does not include the $200 my parents paid for Sarah’s ballet year as a gift, the approximately $50/month we pay for Alex’s music lessons, nor the amounts we pay out for D’Arcy’s teaching.  Next month, we’ll have basketball & curling registrations and will consider ourselves lucky that Olivia won’t be in any paid-for activities until next year.  (Also that she’s long out of diapers and that awful, expensive formula and that our boys don’t play hockey!!)

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining!  I’m grateful that our children have these opportunities to participate in a variety of activities and are discovering what their passions are.  They are making friends and learning new skills that will serve them well in life.  We want them to participate in these things.

It’s just that this has been a very expensive month and regardless of how tired we are at this point, we’re just happy that when September rolls around, we’re still busy with guests each night.