Callie's Tally An Accounting of Baby's First Year (Or, What My Daughter Owes Me) Hardback - 2002

From the publisher

According to reports, it costs upwards of $190,000 just to get a child to the point that college is a possibility. But none of these studies takes into account the hidden fees of parenthood: the doubling of caffeine expenses to combat sleep deprivation, new membership dues for exciting clubs such as Weight Watchers, and escalating photo-processing bills.While other parents resign themselves to covering these necessities without a word of acknowledgment, Betsy Howie decided to keep a running account of her daughter's first year of debt: her hilarious memoir, Callie's Tally. I want my daughter to know how much life costs and what things are worth, she writes. I want her to know what she's worth. . . . I would also like to get some money back.Describing how having a child turned her bank account (and her life) upside down, Howie debates such topics as whether babies should pay for post-partum candy binges, in-utero rent, and travel expenses incurred while being shown off to in-laws. Part Bridget Jones's Diary (after Bridget snags the boy) and part Operating Instructions (for the fiscally obsessed), this witty chronicle offers a receipt-by-receipt answer to the question: exactly how much does a baby cost?