New parent here in the US. My views on this have been swinging wildly over the past months/years, and it's been 'fun' to experience. Are kids too expensive to

New parent here in the US. My views on this have been swinging wildly over the past months/years, and it's been 'fun' to experience. Are kids too expensive to have? Hells yes. We're at ~$400/wk for daycare per kid. And compared to others in my social circle, that's pretty cheap! Now add in all the toys, daycare, near weekly MD visits, etc. Kids are really expensive. But here's the thing. You love them so damn much that you, somehow, make it work. I know people that can't afford the cost of daycare. So they reach out to family, church members, neighbors, etc and make it work. Same is true with most of the costs for kids. They reach out, it sucks for a while, and then they make it work, somehow. Look, I know what the child poverty rates are in the US, they are appalling. I know what the hunger rates are, similarly, horrible. Mortality rates for birth in the US? Awful. Pick a statistic, the US sucks at it. Sure, okay? But, somehow, we want more kids. We just love them. I haven't slept a full nights sleep in years. I'll get 3-4 good hours in and I'm good to go now. Something that would have wrecked me for the next day, I barely bat an eye at. All the poop, snot, fluids, are not a 'thing' anymore. The incessant cries from teething barely phase (you get a sense of a 'real' cry pretty quick). Parenthood is a heck of a ride, especially with the covid-bounce-back in diseases. I don't know how to explain this to anyone here that is on the fence. I'm more than happy to try to field questions though.