" My Connection to Play"

Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good” Lucia Capocchione

“Play has been man’s most useful preoccupation.” Frank Caplan

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”  George Bernard Shaw

    Paper dolls     Playing with baby dolls

My parents supported play by not allowing us to play inside when the weather was nice we did not have a lot of toys (I have seven brothers and sisters). If the weather was nice we were outside from morning until the streetlights came on; allowed only coming in to use the bathroom, nap, and eat.  I grew-up in the city of Chicago Illinois, we did everything from stealing cardboard from the cardboard factory to build cardboard house, we played hind-n-go seek, made mud pies and leaves, played rock teacher, and rode bikes all over the neighborhood. I had some wonderful pictures of paper dolls  buy I am not able to upload them to my blog.

Play is not similar to play when I was a child, because children do not play outside for most of their childhood.  Children of today only have small blocks of outside time at schools and at home, because of TV, video games, extra curriculum activities, and after school sports.  I hope that someday recess is brought back into every school. 

Relationship Reflection

Relationships and partnerships are important to me because without them I am nothing.  I have a relationship and partnership with God, my husband of 32 years, my daughters, and grandchildren, and many friends and coworker’s.  The relationship I have with God is never ending and prayer is constant in my.  Without having a relationship with God, I would not have positive relationships or partnerships with the people who are significant in my life.

             In additions, I have a partnership with the parents of my Head Start student, parents are required to sign a partnership agreement stating that they agree to participate and volunteer in their child’s preschool educational experience.  Therefore, I am able to form relationships and partnerships with the “whole child”. 

            The relationship that I have with my husband of 32 years is a partnership of love and respect, commitment, and support plus loyalty.  Our relationship was very challenging at the beginning; we were both young (21), head strong, and wanted to be right about everything, which created many of fights.  We had to teach, learn, and show one another how we needed to be treated.  Moreover, we learned these lessons in the end by sharing our feeling and growing up together.  We still have our fights but we fight as partners.

            The relationship and partnerships with my daughters and grandchildren are forever changing for the better, with my oldest daughter I had to learn to not voice my opinion all the time and let her parent her children in her own way, even if I disagreed with her methods I must show her respect and support.  I had to learn to listen and not judge.  My youngest daughter, who is 29 years old has a cognitive disability she can and is learning but at a very slow pace, but that does not take away from whom she is; she is funny, silly, happy, and stubbornly sassy.  She is dating for the first time, so our partnership is a work in progress.

             I have many friends and coworkers who I have been friends with for over 40 years.  When I form friendships, we become friends for life because I value friendships and commitment and all that relationships and partnerships entails.  By having vast experiences with relationships and partnerships pertaining my family and friends, which includes my ability to be an active reflective contributor; has affected my ability to form effective partnerships in my role as a early childhood educator.