I Just Want You to Know_ Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family - Kate Gosselin [0]
While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
-Angela Schwindt
I Just Want You To Know
Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family
Kate Gosselin
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
ZONDERVAN
I Just Want You to Know
Copyright © 2010 by Katie Irene Gosselin
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ePub Edition MARCH 2010 ISBN: 978-0-310-41526-8
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gosselin, Kate.
I just want you to know : letters to my kids on love, faith, and family / Kate Gosselin.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-310-31896-5 (hardcover, jacketed)
1. Twins—United States—Pennsylvania. 2. Sextuplets—United States—Pennsylvania.
3. Multiple birth-Popular works. 4. Mother and child. I. Title.
HQ77735.G665 2010
306.874’3092 – dc22
2010008387
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Cover photography: Nigel Parry / CPi
Interior photos: Provided by the Gosselin family
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Half Title Page
Epigraph
Title Page
Copyright
DEAR KIDS
1 ORDINARY IN AN EXTRAORDINARY WAY
Letter to Cara
2 SCHEDULING TODDLERS
Letter to Madelyn
3 BABY STEPS
4 DEAR JESUS
Letter to Alexis
5 BEHIND THE SCENES
6 A MIRACLE A DAY
Letter to Hannah
7 TOWER OF BABEL
8 NO GROUP THINK
Letter to Aaden
9 MILESTONES
10 BLOOD, BAND AIDS, AND BATHS IN THE KITCHEN SINK
Letter to Collin
11 I AM MOM, HEAR ME ROAR
Letter to Leah
12 PLAYING SAFE
Letter to Joel
13 LETTERS OF LEGACY
Photo Album
Enjoy these recipes from Kate's new cookbook, Love Is in the Mix. Coming soon!
Eight Little Faces
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts
DEAR KIDS
The way my kids are being raised is, without question, unconventional. Our supersized life feels normal to them right now because it’s all they know, but when they grow up they may look back and wonder how things would have turned out if we had been a normal-sized family living under normal circumstances. Jon and I had always envisioned ourselves having two or three kids, but as our story turned out, we ended up with twins and sextuplets in three years. I want to share with each of my eight children about our life together so they will know without a shadow of a doubt how much I love them and how much every decision and sacrifice I made was worth it for them.
I present this book to you—Cara, Madelyn, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel—as the background on our family. You’ll see how we attempted to create memories, provide for your needs, form traditions, and give you a good foundation. The time frame—from the time we moved into our house with the red door on Andrew Avenue in Elizabethtown until we moved out—holds a special place in my heart. You were all so squooshy and cuddly, and the little kids were just starting to develop