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Friday, March 20, 2009
My Dear Katelyn
I've had several people comment on Katelyn not being in as many pictures on the blog or her not doing as many activities with me and the Yikes. Katelyn is fourteen going on fifteen. In four years, she will be living on her own. As she earns independence and responsiblity, I'll increasingly give her more freedom. Right now that means I have been letting her stay home at times when I do stuff with the Yikes. Most of the time that means she doesn't have to go to the girls' soccer games, but sometimes that means she also doesn't have to go a fun activity that doesn't interest her. She went with us when we went to Rainforest Cafe and a movie on Tuesday. Truth be told she is a great big sister (the Yikes adore and respect her) who is growing up a lot sooner than her sisters will. Sometimes that means for her distancing herself a bit from her sisters. For example, she didn't want a St. Patrick's Day t-shirt this year which I would have liked her to have, but isn't part of growing up learning to have different preferences than your dad? Right now Katelyn and I have a simple agreement: there are some mandatory family activities she has to go to. I expect her to participate in those without complaint and she does a great job with that. Then other times I give her choice and honor her request. If you know Katelyn personally, than you know she has done an amazing job in the past year and is growing into a young woman that her mom would have been proud of.
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5 comments:
Jake --- what a lovely tribute to Katelyn and Jess...It sounds like you and Katelyn have a foundation of mutual respect.
with care,
Aunt Lynne
Of course Jess would be proud of Katelyn and all of the girls. We are going to have to start 'where in Arlington in Katelyn' and everyone start posting pictures ( =
(Drat! I wish I could edit posts instead of deleting 'em outright)
Jake, my man, that was beautiful. It is so inspiring to see how much of a blessing the two of you are to each other. You're doing wonderfully by Katelyn, letting her have her independence, allowing her to blossom in her own time.
Watching them grow is so bittersweet: you're so proud of them and their accomplishments, still excited about the new things they learn along the way; yet all of this is tempered with the occasional wish that they could stay young forever and not go anywhere. I have an adea: let's commandeer one of the school buses outside of Boles; you grab Katelyn and as many of her Wood friends as you can, and I'll do the same with Nathan. We'll march 'em to the bus, then go get your Aunt Sandy from her school, and drive 'em all back to Wood and tell 'em they're not allowed to grow up or go anywhere. Just stay young, sweet, innocent, happy.... okay, I'm being silly here, but the point is: you are obviously blessed to have Katelyn in your life. Probably the fact that you don't include her in the blogs all the time is a huge sign of respect for her independence ("Daaaaaaad, quit writing about me, you're embarrassing me!").
In Him and around the corner (and learning how to drive a yellow school bus),
Al
Jake~ My girls Meagan, almost 17. and Morgan almost 13 have seen Katelyn out at the mall, pure bliss, the local teenage hang outs and have said she is always havin fun with her friends. That's exactly where mine are too. My house gets lonely because my teenage girls want to be with their friends 24/7/365. I have to step in and make them spend time with me or to be home or clean their rooms. But this is the time of their lives when they find themselves and that requires them to pull away from the family naturally. Hang in there and she will always need you "In her time." Love~ Misty Kauffmann
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