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Either $14,000 or $16,000 per month. I can't remember now. The purpose of child support is for the kids to have the same lifestyle as if the parents were together---don't argue with me about that, see your state legislator........... My point is Barry likes to portray himself as some great father, but when HE went out on strike, the first thing he did was try to argue that he lost his income and was entitled to a reduction in child support. The judge asked him if he was on strike or locked out; Barry said on strike and the judge tore him a new one.

Well, this brings up two different issues.

First issue: Is Barry Bonds a jerk?

From what I have read throughout the years, the answer is, "You betcha!"

Second issue: Is spending $16,000 per month on a child detrimental to the child?

From my experience, you betcha.

I have never been divorced and my wife and two kids live under my roof, so, I have no ax to grind regarding divorce decrees.

However, I have seen the corrosive effect of too much money in my own family and in other families.

Too much money lavished on children has left David Kennedy dead and Christina Onassis dead from drug overdoses.

Too much money lavished on children made my grandfather a ne'er-do-well that, as my uncle (aunt's husband) explained to me when I asked him why none of my aunts or older cousins would talk to me about him, "a man that was given everything and accomplished nothing."

The double whammy of the Depression and then Castro ruled out any childhood money for both my father and myself and gave me the fire-in-the-belly that made me what my uncle described in that same conversation as "a man who was given nothing but has achieved a great deal".

I could now easily spend $16,000 per month on my kids. But, I would consider that child abuse.

I did not repeat my great-grandfather's mistake.

This past month, while on vacation in Mexico, my daughter was troubled as to what to order at a restaurant. I asked her what the problem was and she said that there was no Kid's Menu and that the adult menu prices were 100 Pesos (10 Dollars US) which was "very expensive".

I told her to order whatever she wanted, as Dad could afford it, but I was extremely proud of her in that she respected the value of 10 dollars.