20 years of parenting
...and I still am not sure if I'm doing it right. But I'm doing the best I can, and Katie has been a good daughter.
Happy birthday, Katie! I'd post pictures of cake and party and happiness and stuff, but Katie isn't here. She might update if she had internet and a working computer, but she doesn't.
I remember bringing her home from the hospital and wondering what to do with her. I babysat a lot when I was a teenager, but never for babies. I diapered my youngest brother, but was never tasked with caring for him (Mom waited until we were both a bit older). I had a hard time even calling her Katherine, because it seemed like such a long name for a baby. It also felt weird to call her Katie, or even Kate, because they were nicknames and it seemed to be a sign of familiarity to call someone by a nickname and I certainly was not familiar with her. And she wasn't going to be called Kathy because it would be weird saying the name of my mother and applying it to someone who was NOT my mother.
It all became familiar soon enough though, as the little baby and I familiarized ourselves with each other.
I used to call her TaterBean, but that name is becoming...not passe, but not applicable so much either. She's not a teenager anymore. She works at a 9 to 5 desk job and cooks her own food. She does her own laundry and pays her own bills. She decides when to get up in the morning and when to go to bed. She's in charge of her own health care. She has outgrown TaterBean. Sniff.
Here are two more current pictures than the one above.
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We love you, Katie! I hope you enjoy adulthood. It has its trials (like clogged shower drains and old vehicles), but it also has much to like (going to Brian Regan and music lessons and independence and sewing and friends and learning that you can do more than you thought you could). Big hug!
Happy birthday, Katie! I'd post pictures of cake and party and happiness and stuff, but Katie isn't here. She might update if she had internet and a working computer, but she doesn't.
I remember bringing her home from the hospital and wondering what to do with her. I babysat a lot when I was a teenager, but never for babies. I diapered my youngest brother, but was never tasked with caring for him (Mom waited until we were both a bit older). I had a hard time even calling her Katherine, because it seemed like such a long name for a baby. It also felt weird to call her Katie, or even Kate, because they were nicknames and it seemed to be a sign of familiarity to call someone by a nickname and I certainly was not familiar with her. And she wasn't going to be called Kathy because it would be weird saying the name of my mother and applying it to someone who was NOT my mother.
It all became familiar soon enough though, as the little baby and I familiarized ourselves with each other.
I used to call her TaterBean, but that name is becoming...not passe, but not applicable so much either. She's not a teenager anymore. She works at a 9 to 5 desk job and cooks her own food. She does her own laundry and pays her own bills. She decides when to get up in the morning and when to go to bed. She's in charge of her own health care. She has outgrown TaterBean. Sniff.
Here are two more current pictures than the one above.
.JPG)
We love you, Katie! I hope you enjoy adulthood. It has its trials (like clogged shower drains and old vehicles), but it also has much to like (going to Brian Regan and music lessons and independence and sewing and friends and learning that you can do more than you thought you could). Big hug!
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