Supermodel Linda Evangelista is asking French billionaire Francois Henri-Pinault for $46,000 a month in child support. He's the father of Ms. Evangelista's four-year-old son, Augustin James. And Ms. Evangelista argues that $46,000 is the minimum required to provide for young Augustin in the manner to which he has grown accustomed.

Readers outside New York are probably thinking: 'What's this kid eating ?!'

Readers in New York are thinking: 'She should ask for more.'

To find out how a four-year-old could possibly burn through $46,000 a month in Manhattan, I called Natasha Pearl, president of Aston-Pearl, the New York-based lifestyle-management firm for wealthy families.

Here's the breakdown:

CHILDCARE. Forget the nanny. Kids like Augustin need a round-the-clock child-care team, what the wealthy call 'full, 24/7 coverage.' Ms. Pearl says that requires three nannies, with two rotating on full schedule and another as a backup. 'And that third nanny preferably has some specialty skill, like teaching the kid Mandarin,' Ms. Pearl said. 'And if he's a boy, the third staffer might be a manny to run him around the park and throw him baseballs.'

Total cost: About $23,000 a month or more half the total.

SCHOOL. Augustin is still in preschool, which means that rather than paying the $36,000 to $40,000 a year for private school, Ms. Evangelista only has to pay about $20,000 to $30,000 for a top preschool. That means his school bill at least for now is a mere $2,500 a month.

CLOTHING. You can't be the son of Linda Evangelista and the world's luxury king and wear Osh-Kosh. To sheath Augustin in Chloe, Berlingot and Jacadi (does Gucci have a kids' line?) you're looking at $3,000 a month minimum.

EXTRACURRICULARS. Fencing, chess, French lessons, soccer and all the other add-ons that are required for any successful Manhattan four-year-old will easily run another $2,000 to $5,000 a month.

DRIVERS. 'He probably needs his own driver since they can't split one,' Ms. Pearl said. 'If he needs to be at school at 8 a.m. and she needs to be out 'til 2 a.m., they have to have two.' So add another another $6,000 to $8,000 a month.

So we're already at more than $41,000 and we haven't even gotten to his daily sushi intake, the expense account at F.A.O. Schwartz and the kiddie birthday parties at Top of the Rock.

'At first glance, $46,000 seems like an extraordinaryamount and it is,' Ms. Pearl said. 'But for a fortunate child in New York, it is actuallyabsolutelyconceivable that his expenses could approach $50,000 a month.'

Message to Mr. Pinault: you're getting a bargain.

What other expenses do you think a fortunate son in New York might incur?

Robert Frank

• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
• extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
• fortunate [´fɔ:tʃənət] a.幸运的，侥幸的 (初中英语单词)
• actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
• absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)
• minimum [´miniməm] n.最小量 a.最小的 (高中英语单词)
• schedule [´ʃedju:l] n.目录；清单；一览表 (高中英语单词)
• fencing [´fensiŋ] n.击剑；栅栏；搪塞 (高中英语单词)
• manhattan [mæn´hætən] n.曼哈顿 (英语四级单词)
• sheath [ʃi:θ] n.鞘，壳，套 (英语四级单词)
• gotten [´gɔtn] get的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• conceivable [kən´si:vəbəl] a.可想象得出的 (英语四级单词)