The Year of the Kait

This morning marked the end of an era. For the last year, my 14 year old cousin Kait has lived with us. Needless to say there have been a lot of adjustments for everyone involved. Kait is now reunited with her mom and her siblings (twin brother and little sister).
Now comes a new set of adjustments as we have now lost our live-in babysitter (ultra convenient) and get a guest room back (but only for the next 8 months or so).

To Kait:
We are blessed to have had the opportunity to invest into you for the last year. We have learned a lot from you. In a lot of ways, you have inadvertently been a great guinea pig in helping us be better parents for our own children. Now that we already have a year parenting a teenager under our belts, our kids don’t stand a chance of pulling anything over on us (yeah right). We hope you have learned some things from us…but just in case you need a reminder here is what we would leave you with:
Treat others with respect…it’s the best way to get respect in return
Look people in the eye
Your attitude is your choice
School is important. Its 10% IQ, and 90% work ethic (this applies to almost everything)
Compassion and selflessness are virtues to strive for, but they don’t come naturally
Relationships are the only thing we truly leave behind. Take good care of them.

Lastly we hope you never forget “Kait’s Creed” which we had you recite every week hoping that osmosis would eventually kick in.

You are a bright and beautiful girl that deserves, and should be, treated like a princess

It’s true....we promise

We love you
PPO3