I kept a spreadsheet, the same instinct that makes me good at payroll, because costs were accumulating and I needed to know what I was dealing with.
The school lunches alone were more than I expected. Max’s school required a cafeteria account and Ella’s required a daily packed lunch because the kindergarten schedule ran until only noon on Fridays, which meant packing for five days instead of four in weeks with Friday school. Groceries for two growing kids were running me a meaningful amount above my normal grocery bill — I estimated about four hundred and fifty dollars a month in incremental food costs, including the specific cereal and the fruit snacks Ella preferred and the occasional pizza for Friday nights when I was too tired to cook.
There were activity costs: Max’s school had an optional enrichment program that Owen had already enrolled him in, and there was a registration fee I paid when the reminder came and I couldn’t reach Owen and I didn’t want Max to lose his spot.
There was the dentist visit for Ella, which I scheduled because she’d been complaining about a tooth and Owen told me her dentist information and said to go ahead and take her. I had written permission from him for this. The insurance covered most of it, but there was a copay.
There was the gas and parking from the pediatrician visit, and the three times I drove them to weekend activities because the school’s Friday activity schedule assumed a parent who wasn’t also trying to finish a payroll cycle.