Connections to Play

 Quotes that represent play in my childhood

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

               ― Plato

“Genius is play, and man's capacity for achieving genius is infinite, and many may achieve genius only through play.”  ― William Saroyan

 

 

Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a school teacher and I would play school all the time.  I would use my dolls as my students and would teach them lessons.  I would use paper, chalkboards and books to play pretend school. 

As a child growing up we played with dolls, played kick ball, hide and go seek and other outdoor physical games. Sometimes I would hate to go outside, especially during the summer because it was so hot but my parents encouraged us to engage in physical activity.  Sometimes my parents or even grandparents would come outside to play with my sisters, cousins and I and that would make it that much more fun to have them interacting with us.  

In today's world most children would much rather watch television or play video games and feel like it's a punishment to go outside and play.  It's sad but parents don't even reinforce childhood play like my parents did when I was growing up.  This is one of the reasons I feel child obesity is at an all time high because they don't engage in enough physical activity.  Parents should encourage their children to play, read books and they should minimize the use of video games and television.  If parents new the importance of play in a child's development I believe they would be more apt to encourage play and even participate in it with their children.  As a early childhood professional it is my hope that parents become more knowledgeable about play and development of their child and its importance.

 

Relationship Reflections

Relationships are important because it helps to mold a person into who they will become.  It is important that relationships are healthy and enjoyable because it can take away from a person's self-worth if they aren't. 

Relationships are important to me because the relationships that I have formed throughout my life has either influenced me to want to do better, made me happier or have just taught me many things.  I will admit that some relationships that I have had over the years have come to an end(one's with friend's) because I feel that I had outgrown those relationships and I had to cut my losses and move on. However I have had some relationships that I will forever be grateful for and these people will always be in my life.

One of my biggest cheerleaders is my mother, she is my rock.  I love this lady with all of my being because she is my mom and I am who I am because of her.  She has taught me so many things throughout my life and no matter what my plans are she always supports me.  She's not afraid to tell me when I'm wrong and she will still put me in my place if she needs to and I listen because I know she will never tell me anything that would hurt me or hinder me. 

My mother in law passed away on July 31, 2013 and she was my second mom.  I am grateful because I had the opportunity to know her and to love her.  The biggest/happiest thing that I can say about her is that she treated me as one of her own.  She also supported me, encouraged me and was just an all around good person.  She would also put me in my place if I needed it, and her advice was never taken for granted.  We could talk about anything and most important, unlike a lot of mother in laws she was never opinionated and she never chose sides if issues would arise.  She is truly missed!!

My husband is my best friend.  We can talk and laugh about anything.  We have been married for 10 years, been together for 13.  Although we have had challenges, communication has always been the key to overcoming those challenges.  He is my number 1 fan.  He encourages me when I don't have the energy to encourage myself.  No matter the decisions I have made he always supports me and he always had my back.

My sisters are older than me but they make me feel like I'm the oldest sometimes.  I refer to them at times as my little older sisters.  I don't know if they know how much they inspire me.  They are more outgoing than I, I tend to be more serious and since we were little kids up until this day they encourage me, make me laugh and make me cry.  But on that same note they tend to come to me for advice which lets me know that they value my opinion because over the years they have learned that I am never going to tell them what they want to hear but the truth and they appreciate me for that.  I love them to pieces. 

All of the relationships mentioned have help mold me into the person that I am and the person that I'm becoming.  It has taught me as a professional that all relationships take time, effort, trust and communication.  These things help me as a professional daily and when building partnerships with families.  When building partnerships with families you must put forth the effort to start the process and show families that they can trust you and that you aren't their to judge them and there must be constant communication to keep those relationships going.  Most of all it takes work from both parties and it can never be one-sided because if so partnerships/relationships will never be successful.