Dear Parents,
How are you feeling these days? If you decided to have children, you are now in the midst of a very different world than you were before they came into your life. Decisions about your time and resources must include the young lives that are now in your care. For the next 18 years, you will be personally responsible for the most important investment of your life. When you are rocking that sweet, crying baby in the middle of the night, you will have many decisions to make. If you have a financial planner, you know they often start by asking you questions:

What are your current assets?
What are your long-term and short-term goals?
How much risk are you willing to accept?
What kind of balance do you want in your portfolio?
How flexible are your timelines?

Raising children calls for answers to those same questions. Parents have the same 24 hours a day, but now they must fit more family members and their needs into that time, which already seemed full of spouse and job responsibilities. Priorities must change when children are born. The allocation of finances will change immediately. Diapers, formula, nursery, clothing, carrier, bassinet, etc., etc., etc. It seems incredible that such tiny humans have so much stuff in their lives.

It’s part of the investment.

It is not just about your allocation of finances; it is definitely about the allocation of your time. Children need their parents’ time and attention. It truly takes the focus of all family members to balance the calendar and move the long-range portfolio forward. Children need time and broad opportunities during those 18 years of development. Parents will need to put off some of their personal interests until their children have reached specific short-term horizons (i.e., beginning kindergarten or graduating from high school). Develop activities that all members of the family can enjoy together. That maximizes the time you have with them and the impact you can have on their development.

There is risk in every aspect of life. Parenthood is no different. Risk often comes when you are not paying attention. Parents have to help children learn to balance risk as role models. It is a constant challenge to expose children to the world and still manage your own comfort zone.

Albert Einstein is credited for saying, “Life is like riding a bicycle: to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” That sounds like a perfect description of parenting during the first 18 years of children’s lives. Remember that every single day is an investment in a child’s life. Don’t waste them. Parents, just keep moving. You are impacting the world with your investment. You’ll reach that long-term goal before you know it.