Welcome to this edition of the Down Syndrome Support Newsletter!

Spring is almost here!! If you're like me you are just waiting for those warm days where you can take the kids to the park again. Well it may not be the park... but why not bring the family out for the next meeting at McDonald's playland. Hope to see everyone there.

I would like to say a thank you to Linda Picchi for taking the time to talk to our group about NADS last month. It was interesting to find out more about the Adult Down Syndrome clinic and the other services they offer.

Jennifer
aka 'Brandon's Mom'

If you have a story, event, or happening email it to info@dssupport.net and we can include it in the next edition.

-------- CALENDAR --------

Easter Seals Celebration Telethon
Saturday, April 12, 2004
12 noon - midnight
Empress Casino Joliet
12 hours of live cable television, showcasing Easter Seals clients, staff, 36 local talent acts, sponsors & donors, phone teams taking pledges. Our free studio Audience makes it fun for the whole family! To volunteer, 815-773-9362 x 201. For sponsorship & other information, 815-730-2052

NADS Annual Meeting
Friday, May 21
Lutheran General Hospital
Park Ridge, IL
www.nads.org

NDSS Conference
July 22–25, 2004
Washington, DC
www.ndss.org

NDSC Conference
August 20-22, 2004
Minneapolis, MN
www.ndsccenter.org

Calendar updates can be found at www.dssupport.net/local_happenings.html

Know of an event or other news? Email info@dssupport.net for inclusion in the next newsletter.

Looking for Speakers
Do you know someone who would like to speak at one of our meetings? Please let us know. info@dssupport.net

DVD for new parents
DS Support has purchased a copy of Down Syndrome the First 18 months If you would like to borrow the DVD please let me know at the next meeting. You will be expected to return the DVD within 2 weeks. This is a great resource for new parents.

Book Feature

Down Syndrome and Vitamin Therapy
by Kent MacLeod

Inside Down Syndrome and Vitamin Therapy you will find:

• Why antibiotics can cause harm to your child
• How safe are vaccinations for your child
• Why children with Down Syndrome are at greater risk undergoing anesthesia
• The link between Down Syndrome and Alzheimer's disease
• How a life saving drug could be deadly
• The five keys to healthy digestion for your child
• How common dietary deficiencies could sabotage your child's health

This is reprinted from my mailbox forwarded from one of our members. Thanks Mary.

The Cost of Kids
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is
just the opposite.

What do your get for your $160,140?

• Naming rights,--- First, middle, and last!
• Glimpses of God everyday.
• Giggles under the covers every night.
• More love than your heart can hold.
• Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
• Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
• A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.
• A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
• Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

• You get to fingerprint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop
  believing in Santa Claus.
• You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney Land, and wishing on stars.
• You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.

• You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
• You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel
• You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and
  if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.
• You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
• In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God.
• You have all the power to heal a booboo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

ENJOY YOUR KIDS AND GRAND KIDS!