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The
Windmill Project Newsletter
May 2003
Calendar of
Events
Mother’s Day Lunch
Saturday May 10, 2003 11am – 1pm
Morris Public Library
Hey… Have You Heard?
Windmill Project Family Survey:
59 surveys were mailed out. I received 3 stamped “return to sender.” 1 phone
call to be removed from the mailing list, and 14 completed surveys. That adds
up to less than a 25% response. I was aiming for 33%.
“Parent Training opportunities in our area” received the most votes as the
highest priority. The local family retreats in Morris came in second. The
local newsletter and public awareness tied for third. The website and family
directory seemed of moderate to high importance. And the chat room seemed of no
importance to the majority.
Our family support dollars are about the same as last year. I will try to gear
the annual plan to reflect your areas of interest. If you have not already
mailed in a family survey, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you.
Special Thanks To:
Willie’s Super Valu of Morris for their contribution of snack cakes for the
Regional Retreat in Alexandria!
Sibling Strategies
I know that Easter has come and gone, but I wanted to share a few ideas that may
come in handy (next year).
We save those plastic cups from the egg-dying kits. They make great snack cups
for toddlers, because they are often the same color as plastic drink cups we
already own. Now each child’s snack and beverage container is the same color
and easily recognizable, i.e.: Emily’s is purple, Matthew’s is green, and the
neighbor kid’s is blue.
I have been known to “color code” my Easter egg hunts, choosing one color for
each child. I fill an equal number of each color of those plastic eggs.
Miscellaneous small toys or stuffed bunnies get wrapped in colored tissue
paper. That way older children can swoop in and find their surprises without me
having to constantly remind them to leave some for the younger kids. And the
younger ones can take all the time they need, receive an equal share and
practice the colors at the same time. Emily was Ben’s official egg finder. He
would sit in his chair and Emily would bring him his treasures one at a time.
Perhaps you already do this, but as an alternative to all those sweets, you can
give books (brain candy) or notes of praise stuffed into plastic eggs like a
fortune cookie (heart candy).
Life Lessons
Over the years I have taken numerous classes in early childhood development,
worked in daycare centers, been a nanny, and operated my own home daycare. Not
to mention the 9 “active duty” years I have put in raising my own children.
Some days I feel I do pretty well at this parenting thing. At least I work hard
at it. But many days…
I remember watching a movie entitled “Hanging Up” starring Meg Ryan, Diane
Keaton, and Lisa Kudro. It was about 3 sisters and their relationships with;
each other, significant others, and their (divorced) parents.
I remember Meg Ryan’s character asking her mother why she left. The mother
said, “It turned out to be not reason enough.” She was referring to being a
wife and mother not being as personally fulfilling as she had always been led to
believe it would be. Which reminds me of another quote I heard years ago about
the “fairy tales little girls are fed up for breakfast.”
There are people for whom parenting is absolutely everything. They love kids,
love being parents, wouldn’t change anything, never seem resentful of the
all-consuming nature of it all…and I hope to God they are being honest with
themselves and the rest of us.
As for me, I love my children, more than I would have ever believed possible. I
like parenting…though perhaps not as much as I thought I would. And I have
moments now and again, when the relentless demands of parenting pull me so far
down that the joys of parenting don’t seem to “be reason enough.”
But…in between those moments I experience slices of life.
Yesterday Matthew and I packed a picnic and went to a park to play with
friends. Now, I like to think that I’m the kind of person who would go to a
park in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, for no other reason
than that the weather was beautiful. But maybe I’m not. Maybe for me to be
that person, I needed there to be a child’s wish to do so.
Today Matthew and I set up a pup tent in the backyard. We spent the afternoon
reading books and listening to the breeze flap the tent walls. It was lazy and
peaceful and self-indulgent. It was also something I would never think of doing
had I not been inspired by a young child.
It turns out my children are my work and my recreation. My aggravation and my
contentment. My craziness and my common sense. Too, they are my heart, my
soul, my creativity and the very best parts of me. And…sometimes…they truly are
“reason
enough.”
Days Like Ours
Chicken BLT Wraps
1 med. head of lettuce (green leaf or Romaine)
Washed and torn into bite size pieces.
½ to 1 cup diced tomatoes
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 strips bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled.
1 cup chicken breast, cooked and cubed.
I use leftover fried chicken.
3 small green onions, minced. (optional)
½ to ¾ cup Ranch salad dressing.
Flour tortillas (8 small or 4 large)
Stir all ingredients together in large mixing bowl, toss with dressing to coat.
Place salad mixture on tortillas, roll up and serve cold. Excellent with fresh
fruit plate.
Someone Once Said…
It’s easy to imagine we’re doing “nothing of significance” when we spend so much
time in unmeasurable activities. Yet, when you catalogue all that you are
gaining, you’ll be encouraged at how mothering is making a difference in who you
are as a woman.
From: “What Every Mom Needs”
By: Elisa Morgan & Carol Kuykendall
My Mother. My Self.
you are me. I am you.
we trade souls daily.
for brief moments
there is only one of us.
then two
sharing parts of each other.
now we are separate.
you are me. I am you.
looking in the mirror
I see only you.
I blink
my own face appears.
today I don’t know
where you leave off and I begin.
yesterday I didn’t care.
looking in your eyes
I remember
what I have not yet lived.
I am you yesterday.
you are me tomorrow.
we are one soul today.
you are me. I am you.
Dawn Noelle Archer
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