People ask if I'm sad my son started kindergarten. After $87,000 in day care bills, I'm celebrating.

Mesha Griffith is excited for her son to start kindergarten so she won't have to pay astronomical prices for pre-K.

Courtesy of Mesha Griffith Mesha Griffith is a children's book author and full-time working mom of one son in Columbus, Ohio.

She spent over $87,000 on childcare costs over five years.

Not needing to pay $1,500 each month, she and her husband plan to "bump up" their savings.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mesha Griffith .

It has been edited for length and clarity.

In the middle of August, I dropped my 5-year-old son, Ellington, off for his first day of kindergarten .

Since then, people have been asking whether I feel sad about it, about my little boy growing up and leaving day care behind .

In response, I usually look at them and nearly laugh.

"I've spent more than $87,000 on day care over the past five years," I tell them.

So no, I'm not sad.

We both work full time Before Ellington was born, I knew we would use day care.

My husband and I both work full-time , and staying home wasn't financially realistic if we wanted to meet our long-term goals.

We wanted to save for Ellington's future college expenses and build a secure retirement so that he would never feel responsible for taking care of us financially later in life.