Christmas 2004 – What are you tolerating?
A busy time of year…and in these last few days before Christmas things can feel particularly overwhelming. If you are living with someone with special needs, ordinary life can feel like too much just keeping up to (or ahead of) them, let alone additional Christmas pressures. You wish that life could be better but feel like nothing can change.

But most of us have a lot of little things hanging over us that drain us such as much, if not more, than the big things. Take a few minutes to consider what little things are draining you: the unfolded clothes in that pile, the leaky faucet, the doctor’s appointment you have been meaning to book… Life coaches call these “tolerations” – those ongoing annoyances that eat at a person but seem minor so we keep ignoring them. Experts tell us that most people have about 100 at any given time!

My challenge for you this December and January is to consider what little things could be handled so that you would have more energy for the big things. What could you change that would make next year better.

Where to Start:
List as many of these jobs (tolerations) as you can think of. Keep a notepad or post-it handy and add things to your list over the coming week. Include everything you look at and think “I should…”

My challenge for you is to have your best year yet in 2005. To help you, here are 3 great ways to get started:

COACHING Limited-Time Specials* (pay by Visa or MasterCard)
E-MAIL COACHING: Contact me by January 7, 2005 and receive weekly coaching for $5 a week. (That’s only $20/month, $240 a year + GST). A very affordable solution for parents who want someone to connect with regularly and receive specialized strategies tailored to your child/ren’s unique behaviours.

WEEKLY COACHING: $250/month + GST. $$ Save $50+ now! January 8th the coaching bundle (4 hrs/month) will increase from $250/month to $300/month. Sign up by Jan. 7 and stay locked in at the reduced rate for the duration of your contract. If you have thought about telephone coaching, now is the time to start! (Current bookings are available on Tuesdays during office hours. Waiting list for evening sessions available).

*Specials not available to current clients.

Mommy Overload: Teleclass for Overwhelmed Parents
SNAP (Special Needs Adoptive Parents) and Forest Cottage Centre present Mommy Overload: Coping Mechanisms to Beat Caregiver Stress, a teleclass and online discussion. The Mommy Overload Discussion will give moms a chance to talk over strategies, as well as ask questions.

Teleclass: Monday, January 24, 7:30pm, $8/person (includes toll-free call)

Discussion: Friday, January 29 to February 29, free!
Register by January 6 by calling SNAP toll free at 1-800-663-7627 or by emailing us at info@snap.bc.ca. Payments accepted by Visa, MasterCard, or cheque. Participants will receive teleclass and online dicussion instructions upon registration.
Mommy Overload Discussion made possible by the generous support of the BC Adoption and Permanency Trust Fund.

The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Plan It, Live It
by Debbie Ford (Author) $21.70

Book Description
Maybe you have slipped into the pattern of waiting for the day when your fantasy life will arrive. You might be hoping that the day is coming when you will finally have more success, money, love, or happiness. Like so many, you may be waiting for something to happen tomorrow that will make you feel better about your life today. But I ask you, has that tomorrow shown up yet? It's time to break through the illusion that the best year of your life exists somewhere out there, in the future, when the reality is it exists right here and now.
-- from the Introduction

On New Year's Eve we make resolutions that this year will finally be different. We decide that this is the year we will land a new job, get in great shape, find the man of our dreams, quit smoking, or learn Spanish. Our list of wants is as long as all of our dreams strung together. So what happens to this commitment to change? What stops us in our tracks? Why is it that six weeks after making this pledge, our hopes for change vanish, only to reemerge as next year's "what-ifs?" Number one "New York Times" bestselling author Debbie Ford not only answers these questions but offers a proven, practical blueprint for making today -- "this moment" -- the beginning of the best year of your life. Filled with inspiring guidance, encouraging stories, and life-changing exercises, The Best Year of Your Life is a call to action. It's time to stop pretending that the life of your dreams will magically arrive, and instead make a clear and precise plan of action that is guaranteed to deliver the life you've been waiting for.

One of the most important tasks I perform for parents is to help them locate the resources they need. Recently I have been finding that several books have been recommended to clients a lot so I decided that this month I would share them with you. You can get them through amazon.ca (Canada) or www.amazon.com through my website at www.forestcottagecentre.com. Just click on the highlighted book title to connect.

Resources
The Out-Of-Sync Child
by Larry B. Silver (Foreword), Carol Stock Kranowitz (Author)

The Out-Of-Sync Child Has Fun
by Carol Stock Kranowitz (Author)

Straight Talk about Psychiatric Medications for Kids by timothy Wilens
Paperback order through amazon.ca on our website

How to Be a Friend
by Laurene Krasny Brown (Author), Chopra (Author), Laurie Krasny Brown (Author)

Life Makeovers
by Cheryl Richardson (Author)

About Forest Cottage Centre

Forest Cottage Centre provides attachment-based support for parents of severe behaviour or special needs children, attachment Disorder resources and training and workshops for professionals working with challenging children. Services include individual and group sessions, workshops and retreats.

© 2003 Forest Cottage Centre. All rights reserved. You are free to use material from this newsletter in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution and copyright information, including live web site link and email link. Please also notify Forest Cottage where and when the material will appear.

Comments or questions? Contact Tanya Helton, M.Sc., Life Coach at Forest Cottage Centre Inc.
Phone Toll-Free 1-877-261-6361
Tanya@ForestCottageCentre.com
www.ForestCottageCentre.com