REUNIONS- A TIME TO RECONNECT AND REFLECT

One annual event I attend is a small lunch get together with some high school friends. Chatting and catching up on our lives is a nice way to keep some lines and friendships going strong. Sometimes through Facebook or email other information gets shared. This year is a special year as our High School- Langstaff Secondary School in Thornhill celebrates 50 years. We are all going but there will be others there not seen for many years or well since the last school reunion. The best thing is the fact we are all alive and still going strong. Enjoying life, some retired, some semi-retired, some still working or taking up a new career. Grandchildren and parental deaths are heavy topics! Dealing with health problems although the group that meets for lunch have good health. However, one previous regular participant does not attend due to health issues now. There is no need to try to impress anyone. We know each other- warts and all. Spent our youth together for 5 long years then moved on to university and marriages and children. Why is it good to have a reunion? We lose so may friends and family members along the way in life. It seems the friends and acquaintances we still have become more valued. Although meeting new people is a life long occurrence and often a necessary one, having some roots so to speak with people from other times just helps to keep us grounded. As long as people from early years do not have you stuck in some adolescent behaviour that is no longer part of you. Allowing you to be mature and experienced. When someone tells me, Barb you are still the same! I wonder, the same what! I know I have grown and changed and experienced. That girl of 15 is long behind me! So our little lunch group does not try to keep each other in a time warp. Our knowledge and growth is recognized and validated. Listening to accomplishments large and small is rather fun. Having a good meal at a hotel- The Marriott by the Airport which is convenient for all of us to find as we live in different parts of the GTA! One wonders how long it will continue! I guess as long as we want it. Maybe one day we will be taking the Mobility bus or a cab- who knows! For now, it works. I'll let you know how the big reunion goes. Adolph will be going too as it is his High School! One of my friends asked if it would be alright to give him a hug! Sure, I said, you can take him if you want! He knows where he lives and will come home. He was a good looking guy in High School so I am sure there are other ladies waiting to see him. It will be fun for him to touch base with all those people! Oh reunions! Down memory lane and now back to reality! Have you been to a reunion lately? Was it fun?  Do you even like reunions?

NANA SAYS STARTING HIGH SCHOOL BEGINS A NEW CHAPTER

When our children are preteens, we feel a little safer. But the beginning of High School means the real teenage years have begun. Going from being the oldest in Grade 8 to starting at the bottom in Grade 9 can bring anxiety into a home. Wanting to be " one of the cool kids" can influence everything. Some parents put pressures to get great marks now so the best university can be obtained for the future disallowing children to enjoy the moment and well enjoy High School. What to wear can be a challenge! If a Catholic school in Ontario, the uniform. Even private High Schools have uniforms too! The schools have gone to pants as the young ladies would roll the skirts so high even the 1960s minis were longer! To those parents facing their first child starting High School, sit back and relish the moment. Be part of the experience by listening to your kids. Meet their friends. Go to parent/teacher events- if your child allows it and brings home the notice! The High School years are really a time when children go from being children to young adults! Do you have a child or children starting High School? How are you managing?

NANA SAYS REPORT CARD TIME IS STRESSFUL FOR PARENTS

Everyone wants and thinks their child is brighter than the rest. The report card arrives and gives a reality check of one teacher's assessment of your child. So there are not all A's or excellent or however your school system grades your child. The gifted child at age 7 does not necessarily mean the same child will ace High School and be a college grad at age 16. There may be some social expectations that are not being met! Yes it is great to read early but the rest of the pack catches up eventually! The child that must study to get good grades actually learns how to learn and retain information. Learns how to work for what he/she gets1 Rather than expecting everything is just too easy and becomes bored at learing! Creating a home environment where the parents role model reading, studying and creative thinking is as important or more important than any classroom. Manners are taught at home! Reading out loud to your children! My girls had a principal that insisted all grades- yes even the Grade 8's -had the teachers reading out loud every day! Steven Spielberg stresses reading anything and everything as a way to spice up creative thinking! Back to the report card. Be proud the child received a C in a subject. Why? There is room for improvement and the chance to help that child get a C plus next time. Good grades in the early years do not mean the child is automatically Harvard material! A well rounded- academic, social, musical, emotional, spiritual, person is what we are aiming to raise. Ask any adult about the "smart people" around them! Are there any social inappropriateness? Ask the parent of a Special Needs child  when they celebrate the small milestones! As the parent you have the opportunity every day to work and Play with your child. Yes play! Play provides a world of opportunities for learning! Congratulate your child for the effort! Ask the parent of teenagers! If they went to school every day and did not skip- well that is a huge accomplishment!

SEPTEMBER AND THE END TO SUMMER

Welcome September! The relaxed days of summer months are now just a memory. Even though we still have 3 weeks of summer left, the urge to reve up and get back to those projects put aside for summer activities has begun. Stores have been busy the last few weeks with the back to school shopping. Committees and staff meetings at work are scheduled with urgency. The student placements from the colleges and universities are arriving. No wonder everyone is feeling so tired! There is such a pressure to do things- well September is here, must get going! So take a deep breath and remember there is only 24 hours in the day and tomorrow will be another day! Don't pull out all the winter woolies yet! Keep the summer colours a little longer! Relish the days outside when the weather keeps warm for a while longer! Hope for the Indian summer! Buy some plants like the Fall mums adding new colour to your garden! For parents everywhere that have been trying to keep the little ones from being bored and active, the start of school is not necessarily a bad thing! Starting High School for the first time! The first year away at university or college brings challenges! The first time not going back to school but in an exciting new job! Yes welcome September, you can do some early Christmas shopping if you want or plan for your special projects as gifts. One of my relatives knit a beautiful sweater already for a family member with her leisure time over the summer as a Christmas gift! Do you welcome September? Or are you trying to catch those late season rays to keep your tan?

DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE BABY BOOMERS

Breaking the bank. All my life being a baby boomer, everything that has been done has been analysed. The current fear is the demand to health care as the baby boomers boom into old age. Well, has anyone really done the demographics. All the baby boomers are not going to make it. In my family and friendship circle, three have already died in their 50's. No burden on health care or the pension system! Did anyone consider the boomers actually have worked and contributed to society, have their own pension plans and perhaps have saved for their retirement. Oh yeah- put their children through school and gave lavish weddings and nice gifts to their grandchildren. The house where they currently reside may help with their needs in their old age. Being in health care, the current older generation has been a conudrum! Many believe they will live forever and do not want to spend their savings as they were saving it for their old age! They expect the government should provide for them. Even some of their family members think they should get free housekeeping and daily free nursing beyond what any provincial plan pays. The baby boomers on the other hand have heard it again and again to save for their old age! I hate the term baby boomer. It has been tough competing my whole life with one of the largest group of people. What is not realized is if all of us retired at the same time there would not be enough of a mature workforce to keep everything going! We need the young ones, the middle experienced and the mature ones in all fields. Actually today I have reached 200- 200 blogs that is! Are you tired of the baby boomer dialogue? Have you lost some along the way! Here's to people of all ages! I have a little grandson 6 months! This baby boomer is overjoyed with this blessing in my life!

THE CHEERLEADER

We all need champions in our lives. Someone who just supports us and says job well done. Keep going, you're doing great. Nice to have you in my life. Recently, I encountered a person that was a mentor to me in my early career. Loved his style of managing a difficult moment. Questioned in a supportive manner. Good energy. Some days I hope to be that person to other people. But sometimes the negative energy around me makes it quite difficult. So I try to become my own cheerleader. Calm your energy, it's not personal, step back and listen to the other person- there's more than one point of view. I was a cheerleader in High School. Then I could do a high kick into the splits- well if I tried that now I would hurt something- very badly!!!!!!! Are you a cheerleader? Did you have cheerleaders in your life? Do you find cheerleaders annoying?

CONNECTIONS

We are all connected in some way- by age, culture, gender, family, friendship circles, profession. In different stages of our lives different people are there. Some stay with us throughout our whole lives until death separates us. Some people are with us for a short time such as High School friends- "we'll be close forever" but often university, marriage, relocation loosens those ties. Why do we become disconnected from some individuals that shared an important part of our lives? No conflict! No reason! Just life moves on? Christmas cards are a good way to keep in touch. My family is coast to coast. If we all lived closer, special occasions would be huge. Email and Facebook and other social medias are great to keep updated but it's not the same as sitting and being with someone. Lately I want to reconnect with people. Like cousins and other high school friends and old work mates. How about you? Are you longing to seek out some old acquaintances? Are there family members worth calling? Let me know your thoughts!

REUNIONS-TIME TO RECONNECT

From time to time we all attend a reunion of some kind.There's the school reunion where we venture to see how everyone else is doing and come away just glad to see people are still around. A funeral is a sad reunion-gathered together because of one common denominator.Weddings are happy occasions that often bring family and friends from all over the country and sometimes the world. A retirement party is a reunion- some retirees come and the current colleagues say good-bye. Family reunions can be one named based like genealogical reunions or a mult-generational gathering of the clan in your own family. I attended a reunion of sorts today- a group of us from High School have done a lunch once or twice a year for several years. It has been two years since the last one. We chat and update- who has a new grandchild, who is retiring, whose child was married and just how is everyone doing- nice to see each other, took a couple of pictures and promised to do it again. Have you had a recent reunion with someone or a group of people? Do you like reunions or do you avoid them like a plague? Are you happy like I am knowing people are going strong? Are there people from the Spring of your Life?