My Connections to Play

Adults are obsolete children-Dr. Seuss www.quotegarden.com We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing-George Bernard Shaw www.quotegarden.com "Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul." Friedrich Froebel http://www.childsplaymagazine.com/quotes/index.htm When I was young I would play outside all day with my friends and family. We loved to go exploring because we lived in the country and had alot of fun climbing trees and just seeing what nature had for us to find. I used to enjoy playing outside on our tire swing and playing games at night around the neighborhood. My siblings would play games and explore with me even though they were older than me. This helped me to grow closer to them and learn young about how rules can change from one minute to the next. I was an outside player when I was growing up and still perfer to be outside whenever possible. Both at school and at home outside play was encouraged and we also had family time when we would play games together (board games and outside games ). Play was encouraged-but I grew up in the 1960's and the electronic age had not hit yet, so that was good. Today I think play is alot different because so many children do not play outside. Today children play inside on electronic devices or are watching television. When I was growing up children played sports and got together outside-today children play some sports, but also get together to play computer games and other inside activities. Play time is being taken away from children today in many programs and being replaced with more desk work and for me this needs to be changed back to how it was when i was growing up and you had recess two to three times a day and you played outside most of the time.

These are some of my favorite things to do and play with even now with my grandchildren-we are always playing outside and making up games to play. It is great to watch them explore and ask questions about the world around them. I instilled in my children a love for the outdoors and we are all trying to do the same thing with all the grand children.

Relationship Reflection

Blog: Week 2

Reflecting on Building Relationships: My Reflection

Reflecting on my relationships and partnerships with the many people in my personal and professional life, I find that they are pretty much separate from each other. My relationships/partnerships with my parents are very important because they will be the foundation of how my relationship with each child starts. Relationships with anyone can make you who you are or what you become throughout life. I have a very good relationship with my daughter Sarah (now that she is older); over the years we have grown very close and work together to raise her daughters whenever she needs a sounding board on why they are doing something she doesn’t understand. Sarah is my biggest supporter on continuing my education and pushes me forward whenever I think I can’t go on. I know I can talk to her about anything and she comes to me whenever she needs to talk as well. My son is also part of the backbone to getting my education-he is also working on his Bachelor’s degree after returning from Iraq and having a very hard time adjusting. We are his family and help him in any way we can. My family is who I depend on daily and I know they will stand behind me in all my decisions. They help me understand why I should or should not do something and I am the same way with them. Being from a military background I have made friends around the world, so sometimes it is hard to stay in touch-but I still keep in touch so we can continue our relationship over time and distance.

My other person that I have a great relationship with is my husband, we have been together for 31 years and I know I can depend on him to keep me grounded in both my personal and professional choices. I can talk to him about anything and know he will give me an honest answer and help me understand why if I don’t agree with his answer. We have been through many happy and sad times and I know he is there for me. My cat that we had for 18 years is also very important to how I look at relationships because he was a constant in my life for a very long time and went everywhere with us (traveling cat) he went to Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia with us. He was part of our family and it was very hard on everyone when he passed away. These relationships have made me into the caring person I am today and taught me how important each person is and I continue to build on this daily.

These relationships have helped me to understand just how important building a connection with my families is and also how hard it can be sometimes. I try to learn about each of my family’s backgrounds so I will better understand them as a whole. When I know as much as possible about them then I will be able to work better for the whole family. It can be difficult to keep relationships going because sometimes you get busy, move away, change careers, or any number of other reasons. Sometimes it is just meant to be that a relationship fails or changes and we need to move on. My experience with relationships/partnerships has helped me grow into a better listener and also I have a better understanding of other cultures/diversity because of moving around so much throughout my life. I have built an understanding that each culture is different and we need to understand that not everyone has the same beliefs-but we do all have the same needs.

My relationships over the years have definitely made me who I am today because when I want something I have people behind me telling me to go for it and that I can do anything I put my mind too.