KIDS NEWS

Volume 1, Issue 2
Nov/Dec 1996

Christmas Party

KIDS will be hosting a Christmas Party at the Porter's house on Saturday, December 9th, from 4-8pm.

This party will be very informal. We would like everyone to feel free to bring their entire family to join us in a day of fun and relaxation. Since December is a very busy month, and most of us are going crazy trying to buy the perfect gift for everyone on our list, run our kids around from party to party, etc., we would like to be able to host a more relaxing party with a great family atmosphere. The Porter's house is full of toys and games (in every room) for children of every age.

Please bring your entire family, along with a dish of food or dessert to share in our potluck dinner. This will be a relaxing come-and-go party where the whole family can enjoy visiting with our friends, watching the children play together, and share goodies.

	When: 	Saturday, December 9th (4-8pm)
	Where: 	The Porters' House (19314 34th Dr SE, Bothell  402-0945)
	Who:	Your Entire Family

Nathan Porter's Heart Surgery Update

Nathan's surgery was an complete success! He was amazing!

His surgery started at 7:30am on October 10th and he was in ICU by noon. By 5:10pm, Nathan decided he didn't like the ventilator that the doctors and nurses thought he needed to help him breath, so he used his tongue (because both arms and legs were tied down) and pulled the ventilator tube from his throat and started breathing fine on his own.

Anyway, Nathan is fully recovered now, and has even more energy than before. He is getting into everything just like a true toddler is supposed to. Thanks for your support.

Next KIDS Meeting

The next meeting for KIDS is scheduled for January 9th, 1996! The meeting will be held at the Porters' House (19314 34th Dr SE, Bothell).

We will be looking for a permanent place to hold our meetings. If you have any suggestions, please call Janet Porter at 402-0945.

Taming Temper Tantrums

by Janet Porter

Temper Tantrums are a toddler's most common response to frustration and limit setting. These tantrums usually begin around 18 months old. Keep in mind that even though these tantrums are annoying to parents, they are important in the process of developing independence. Here are a few examples of how to deal with temper tantrums.

help your child to verbalize their feelings (usually anger) "I know you are mad because Mommy took the scissors away, but you cannot have them because they can hurt you...they are not safe."
stay with the child and try to help keep them safe and those around them. (hold the child if they try throwing objects, banging their head on the floor, or biting).
don't give in! Don't change the rules or let him have something you took away just to stop the tantrum. Remember that a tantrum is simply a child's way of trying to control a situation. Your job is to be consistent and show them that no matter how bad they act, and how ever much attention they draw out in public, the rules stay the same. Bad behavior does not get them what they want!

A good way to avoid a temper tantrum before it starts is to give the child a choice. Instead of asking your toddler to put on the red shirt, give him the choice between the red and the blue shirt (both of which meet your approval). The child will gladly pick one and feel proud of his decision instead of throwing a fit over having to put on the red shirt that you are making him wear.

Temper tantrums can also start over an "argument" between two children, such as trying to share toys.

Sharing is a very difficult task for children to learn. One way of teaching children how to share is to play games that are structured around the concepts of sharing...trade, asking, taking turns, etc.

One game could be: each player has an equal number of identical blocks. At the cue of "trade", everyone switches blocks with their neighbor. Do this over and over; repetition will help teach the children that by trading, he both gives and gets. An advanced version of this game would be to trade dissimilar objects. Other fun games would be "please give me the ..." and "my turn your turn" games.

1996 Beautiful Faces Calendar

1996 Beautiful Faces Calendar
134 W. University, Suite 310
Rochester, MI  48307
(1-800-963-2237)    FAX (810) 377-0206

This calendar is of 12 children with Down syndrome. $9.95 each

Earth's Best™ Recipe

The other night I was out "surfing the net" and found an incredible parent's resource. One of the resources was for Earth's Best Baby Foods and they included recipes with their baby foods as part of the ingredients. I thought this would be interesting for some of you.

   Carrot Cake
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 eggs
3 jars Earth's Best Carrots
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup yogurt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Combine dry ingredients. Whisk the wet ingredients together and add to the dry. Fold in the walnuts and raisins. Put batter into a greased 8-inch square pan and bake at 350º for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when cake is poked in the center. Icing: Cream together 3 Tbsp. butter, 1/2 cup light cream cheese and 1-1/3 cup powdered sugar.

Serving size:  1/12 of recipe
Calories per serving:  211
Percent of Calories:
   Protein:  8%
   Carbohydrate:  64%
   Fat:  28%

   Create A Muffin
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup dry milk powder
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 egg
2 jars Earth's Best fruit puree
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425º. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin papers. Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until moistened. Fold in extras (raisins, cheese, etc.). Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Muffins should spring back when touched in the center.

Possible combinations:

Earth's Best Winter Squash w/1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.
Earth's Best Apples w/1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 cup raisins.
Earth's Best Carrots with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger and 1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple.
Earth's Best Spinach & Potato. Reduce sugar in recipe to 1/4 cup and add 2/3 cup grated cheese.
Earth's Best Apples & Blueberries w/1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries.

Serving size:  1 muffin
Calories per serving:  186
Percent of Calories:
(based on recipe above using 2 jars EB fruit puree)
   Protein:  9%
   Carbohydrate:  66%
   Fat:  25%

       Earth's Best Baby Food, Inc.
          4840 Pearl East Circle
               Suite 201E
           Boulder, CO  80301
            1-800-442-4221

Funny IQ Testing Stories from America Online™

By Ellen Gray

I'm just at the point where I can laugh about our first experience with IQ testing (with a psychologist so inept he should lose his job).

At the IEP evaluation, to demonstrate that my then 5-year-old son, who colors within the lines and draws simple pictures, could only "scribble", he showed me the test itself. "I asked him to draw a line", he said, "and this is all he could do, a scribble". I looked down and recognized what his teacher also spotted but this guy missed: He'd drawn a *lion*!

By Gregory McKenna

My son Shawn was having a math test in grade one and they had adapted the questions since he had trouble with numbers larger than 20. The original question was, "You have 50 cents, can you buy a juice at 40 cents and a banana at 20 cents?". The teacher modified the question to "You have 5 cents, can you buy a juice at 4 cents and a banana at 2 cents?". Shawn thought at the question for a few minutes and being an expert in juice and also always the one who pays when we go to the restaurant answered, "it's cheap for a juice".

While he didn't answer correctly, he got lots of respect for his analysis of the situation. Try to fit that in a psycho test and get it scored...

By Cindy Segal

A friend of mine has a 21 year old son with DS. Once when he was small he was being tested for something. The tester was having a hard time keeping his attention and had decided that he couldn't do the tasks she was testing. Finally he said, "It's over". She was really mad by this time and growled at him, "No it's not, we've hardly begun!". He replied, "No, I mean Swan Lake", pointing to the speaker on the wall that had been playing classical music. "Swan Lake is over". (He was right, too).

Your Baby Has Downs Syndrome...

The MacKenzie Sara Noca Charitable Trust
1510 Greendale Dr.
Pittsburgh, PA 15239
(412) 798-0749

This is a wonderful video tape made in rememberance of little MacKenzie who died from a heart defect. The video tape is shipped free, but they request a donation (if you can) of $19.95.

Magazines and Newsletters:

Down Syndrome Today
Debra A. Hoeft
26 Martin Ave
Bellmore, NY 11710
(516) 221-4700

Communicating Together
(410) 995-0722

Internet Resources:

http://www.westvirginia.com/downsyn/

The ARC Web Site:

http://www.metronet.com/~thearc/welcome.html

To Contribute an article, Call Janet Porter 402-0945.

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