It's not bad, it just feels that way

Here in Canada, families of young children receive something called the Universal Child Care Benefit. 

It comes from the federal government and totals $100 per kiddo -- ostensibly it exists to offset child care costs but you show me a daycare that charges $1,200 a year and I'll show you a friendly yellow lab that knows how to operate a can opener.

For the first year, I use the $100 to cover baby-related costs; after that, it goes directly into an RESP.  So it's not like I'm spending it irresponsibly.  And I still get the payment via paper cheque, because I like the purposeful feeling of depositing money at the bank. Knowing that all families get this money, and remembering that I've been paying income tax in some form or another since I first started to work at age 13 makes it pretty much a guilt-free transaction.

Except when I'm late for book club, and I rush into an unfamiliar LCBO to grab a last-minute bottle of wine, and when I reach into my wallet for some cash, I pull out a big ol' Government of Canada cheque. 

It's not bad -- heck, if I needed more help from the government than just the $200 a month it would still not be bad -- but it would have felt a lot better if I'd been buying, for example, diapers, and not, for true example, prosecco.