I Just Want You to Know_ Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family - Kate Gosselin [55]
I can still picture Grandpa sitting peacefully on a bench in the utility room, watching TV and carving Bible verses into his locally famous plaques with a pocketknife. He kept a peanut can full of bubble gum in the cupboard. He would chew the gum when he took his false teeth out at night, and he would always share his gum with us—especially the grape-flavored pieces, which were our favorite.
Grandma always had a purse full of candy and was known as the “candy lady” at church. All the kids found her after the service to choose a piece of candy.
Looking back, they taught me what really matters: family, memories, tradition. I couldn’t have asked for better grandparents. Soon after we moved into the house on Andrew Avenue, we placed the birdfeeder Grandpa had made for us outside our dining room windows. Almost immediately, two doves moved in. With the loss of Grandma and Grandpa always on our minds, coupled with the fact that they were avid bird watchers, it seemed only fitting to name the doves Grandma and Grandpa. Each evening as we ate dinner, without fail “Grandma and Grandpa” were there to pay us a visit. It was as if they were watching over us, and strangely, this was very comforting to all of us.
Grandma and Grandpa doves on our back deck (near Grandpa’s bird feeder).
Because Grandma and Grandpa’s letters meant so much to me, I started writing letters to my own kids. Every Saturday before I left for work I used to write notes to Mady and Cara. Something as brief as:
Dear Cara,
I hope you have fun today. Please be a big help to Daddy. I hope you enjoy dinner tonight—Nana Janet Roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, your favorite! I’ll see you tomorrow morning when you wake up. I love you!
Love, Mommy
At first I just thought it was a nice way for them to wake up, but later on I realized they came to look forward to and expect those little notes each weekend. I only recently discovered that they saved them. I found stacks of notes in the drawers underneath their beds!
In addition to the everyday notes, each Valentine’s Day I write a love letter to each child. While in the day-to-day routine I have to be tough, Valentine’s Day is a special time for me to remind them in various ways how much I love them. In fact, all day on Valentine’s Day, I ask the kids what Valentine’s Day means, and they respond, “Looove!”
The tooth-fairy notes came soon after that. Jon and I were sleeping when Mady presented us with her first tooth. On Mady’s note I wrote:
Dear Mady,
I would like to introduce myself: I am Miss Tooth Fairy! I flew from far away to collect your tooth—and thank you, by the way. I am working on a necklace. Enjoy your surprise! See you next time a tooth falls out! (But please wait until it’s warm outside, since I don’t like flying in this chilly night weather!)
Byeeeeeeee, Miss Tooth Fairy
Oh, and one more thing: Brush your teeth. I don’t like dirty rotted teeth! Thank you!
We left that first note with a $2 bill. (The dentist said the going rate in our area for the first tooth is $20. Not so much in our house!) We were so busy with the little kids when Mady and Cara started losing teeth, that at one point, Mady lost a tooth and the tooth fairy didn’t come for five days. She was heartbroken. We left her a note from the tooth fairy that read, “I’m sorry, I broke my left wing. I could only fly in circles.” We had to come up with something because we had been so forgetful.
I couldn’t keep track of only Mady and Cara’s teeth, so I can’t imagine how hard it will be with six of them. When they start losing teeth, I’m going to have to prepare preprinted notes and have them all folded