It costs a village...

If you're a parent who hasn't seen the current double issue (8/18/03 & 8/25/03) of "The New Yorker," you must. There are a host of interesting pieces in this special family issue. My favorite, so far, is "Leave no Parent Behind" which deconstructs why "having a child is now the best indicator of whether someone will end up in 'financial collapse.'" The most significant contributing factors are the cost of housing (bidding wars for the best neighborhoods with the best public schools) and education (college tuition). The kicker: "It may not take a village to raise a child, but these days it seems to take a village to pay for one."