Connecting Families

     Sharing Strengths

         Renewing Hope

The Windmill Project Newsletter
Feburary 1, 2002
 

Hey… Have You Heard?

If your home was built before 1978 and you are planning any remodeling projects this spring check out this web site at www.aeclp.org from the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. Or call 1-800-532-3394

MN Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH) will hold it’s 2002 statewide Children and Adolescent Mental Health Conference April 23-24.

The conference will be in Duluth, MN.

They are expecting 1000-1200 participants (parents & professionals.) For information call 1-800-528-4511

I have stumbled across a website that may be of interest to some of you. www.athomemothers.com

A new 62-page resource booklet, Possibilities: A Financial Resource Book for Parents of Children with Disabilities, is available through the collaboration of PACER Center and the National Endowment for Financial Education. Single copies of the booklet are FREE to MN parents of children with disabilities. The cost is $3 per copy for others interested. For information call 1-800-537-2237 or visit www.pacer.org

PACER & AbleNet, Inc. collaborate once again… “Play & Learn: Active learning using assistive technology in early childhood.” Monday, Feb. 4, 2002 from 9 a.m. –noon (registration at 8:30 a.m.) PACER Center Conference Room, 8161 Normandale Boulevard, Bloomington. Registration is required, call 952-838-9000, limited to 60 participants.

Life Lessons
Sometimes…there is no “cure.” Are you ready to accept that? It’s a hard thing to do. For many of us, it takes a long time. When I think of the years with our son, Benjamin, I am often reminded of a line from a classic storybook, The Velveteen Rabbit. “It was a long weary time…” Sometimes we are so tired of being tired, that we actually expend more energy in search of the elusive cure. We hope that one day, soon, our child will be healthy, will be “normal”. We hope that someday everything will be “fixed” because we were finally able to find the right doctor, the right medicine, the right procedure, or the right therapy. We are stuck in the “long weary time” so we need to believe that it will get better. When we can accept that we cannot cure this thing, whatever it is, life will get better. Try to spend your time and energy enhancing your child’s life as it has been given to you. Enjoy the unique and beautiful things your child has to offer to you and to this world. Prepare for tomorrow, but spend less time worrying about it. Allow your child to be lovable and livable as they are.

Special Thanks To:
Beardsley Area United Fund Drive for their recent donation.

Days Like Ours
BBQ Meatloaf Recipe
(Preheat oven to 350 degrees.)

Meatloaf:
2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup quick oats
1 med. onion, diced (optional)
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. poultry seasoning.
1 tsp. parsley

Sauce:
1 cup tomato sauce
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard

For meatloaf, mix all ingredients together and form in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Drain fat from pan and add sauce, bake 20 minutes longer, or until done.

Someone Once Said…
If a problem has no solution,
it may not be a problem, but a fact-
not to be solved, but to be coped with
over time.

-Shimon Peres

Sibling Strategies
Sibnet subscription page

http://www.seattlechildrens.org/sibsupp/

Calendar of Events
Our first “Parents Only Lunch” was held Jan. 19. We had 5 parents R.S.V.P. and 2 show up. It was a good time, and turned out to be more of a support group. The parents in attendance would like to see the lunch occur about 3-4 times per year in the winter and summer. How about you?

The next local family retreat is on Sat. Feb. 16th at the RFC in Morris. Information & registration sheets are in the mail. Hope to see you there!

The Regional Parent Retreat is March 22 & 23, 2002 in Alexandria. You should have received your registration form in the regional newsletter. If you did not, and you are interested in attending, please contact me for further information.

Dawn Archer, Parent Consultant
111A West Ridgeview Drive
Starbuck, MN 56381
toll free: 1-877-214-7977 #2891
phone: 320-239-4238
email: darcher@runestone.net

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