The party's finally over...

...my husband's "significant number" birthday party weekend that is. And not a moment too soon. I'm all socialized out.

I rented a huge condo up at the ski hill for us starting on Friday night. Family and friends either stayed overnight in their own accomodation (I'm not crazy enough to torture anyone else to stay with us...) or they came up for the event and drove home with a designated driver afterwards. And for those who chose not to come up the hill such as two of my husband's sisters and a brother-in-law, we did a family dinner Sunday at our house. (Here's my kids enjoying the hot tub at the condo.)


There were plenty of people and kids of all ages including my almost two and five year old granddaughters, my parents, my siblings and spouses, friends...I've lost count of the number. Tons of food, beverages, gifts, laughter and of course no family get together would be complete without the drama that children bring. (Let's not get into the adult child drama...)

Although there was lots of laughter, there were also some tough parenting moments. Too much stimulation, different beds, different routine, different food, unknown people...put this all together and for one of my kids it spells a-n-x-i-e-t-y. Big time. And her only coping skill is to regress into a much younger age. Not much surprises us anymore with her, and we know it's only a matter of time before she retreats to a much younger age when she's stressed. But if we never did anything, or went anywhere so she wouldn't have to be anxious, then the rest of us would miss out on so much fun.

There is a tipping point in every activity, every event. And if we watch for the triggers and are prepared for anything, usually we can weather the storm. Usually, not always. Sometimes we have to pack up and go home (or the hospital emergency room), but not often.

Life's too short to stay at home all the time.

As I write this...

I'm sitting in the Vancouver airport at 9:10 pm waiting for my flight to Penticton that doesn't leave until 10:15 pm. Yes, I'm usually heading to bed by then, or at least to the pantry for some energy to stay awake and watch a tv show without the benefit of anyone's opinion on how fake it is, or commenting on how dumb the plot is, or how no one would do that in real life. But tonight I sit at YVR people watching and waiting to head home from an extremely busy two days at our AFABC offices in Burnaby.

Ok, so yes there was fun involved - it wasn't all hard work, but it was also a very rewarding trip. The reason for this trip to HQ was to join in on the planning for our newly renewed contract from MCFD to provide adoption support to families in BC. I have counterparts in Vancouver/Coastal, Fraser, Central & North Vancouver Island, and the North regions. The two staff members from the North were not able to join us in person - they unfortunately had to suffer the dreaded conference call participation, but we only tortured them for 60 minutes.

The rest of us spent the day sequestered like a hung jury in the downstairs meeting room surrounded by flip charts, a white board, and countless coloured markers that never lasted more than a page before fading out. Although this too may seem like torture it was an incredibly empowering and productive day.

For the first time since the inception of the regional support coordinator program, we have the opportunity to help re-write and craft how we deliver support throughout our regions. It was an opportunity to look at where we started "back in the day" and see how far we've come. Myself and Jen Hillman, the Fraser region adoption support coordinator are the only two regional staff who have been here since the program began. We laughed about how we never had a computer network to connect to; we used our own home computers, everything was paper, no social media opportunities, to name just a few of the old style way we used to do things.

Back then we couldn't imagine how technology would change everything we do. And now we're trying to imagine where we will be in 3 years, or even 5 years from now. We had the opportunity to dream, imagine,create and brainstorm ideas about what we want/need to do. Always with the focus that we will never, ever give up on supporting families in any way and in every way we can. And that support includes using social media, technology, face to face support, phone support, live chat, family social events, retreats and family camps. What ever our families want in our communities we will try and find some way to deliver it to them.

So as I head to the gate to board my flight home, think about what you would like to see in your communities and send me an email, or leave a comment.