It is important to note that no two experiences will ever be the same (hence why my advice would be to myself). I'm with Fotze... I didn't really like the early years. I was full of self-doubt and concern. It felt like I was watching over my drunk university buddies again and I always hated that.
Now that mine are older and my role has shifted away from caretaker to life coach, I'm far more comfortable. That said, I talk to people all the time who had the complete opposite experience.
There's so many intangibles that it becomes impossible to forecast. Maybe your kids become super cool, adopt your hobbies, develop brutal learning disabilities, get into drugs, or you're hit with serious illness.
As for the costs, I think it's probably very much like this thread in that it depends. There's factors of decision and factors of chance. Does your kid fall in love with hockey or band? That's gonna change your financial trajectory real quick. My kid likes writing, so if I can keep him stocked with Moleskine notebooks, I'm good. So compared to having them both in $1000/month daycare, things got better for us. This isn't the case for everyone.
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