My connections to play

Quotes on children playing:

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

Fred Rogers:  American television personality.  Retrieved: Nov. 18, 2011.

A child loves his play, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.

Benjamin Spock: American pediatrician.  Retrieved: Nov. 18,2011.

As a child I loved to play with dolls and I loved to pretend to teach.  I would curl my dolls hair with an old curling iron that my mom gave me.  My grandmom would watch me sit for hours playing with tea sets, curling irons, and drawing.  I had a standard size chalkboard in my bedroom and my mom said I would go in my room and line all my dolls on my bed and teach.  She said that one day I kept walking in and out of my room slamming the door.  She asked me why I was doing that and I told her that’s what my teacher did when she wanted us to listen.lol

I loved to color and draw.  This was something that I found relaxing.  I would sit and color and watch tv or lie on the floor and try to figure out how to draw certain pictures.  My daughter loves to draw now and she is so much better at it than I ever was. 

My family didn’t have much money when I was growing up but they always allowed and encouraged me to play.  I had lots of cousins around and we were all supposed to play and share together.  We would play tv shows.  They loved to play Batman and Robin or The Dukes of Hazard (they liked the car). 

Children today don’t play outside as much as we did.  With all of the technology they tend to stay inside.  My children love to ride their bikes or go for walks but to be honest; with the hustle and bustle of everything it’s hard to always get them out there.  That’s another tough situation…parents have to work or want to work more and they don’t plan for or can’t make time for children to do outside activities.

Role play for me was important because it gave me a chance to express myself and relax.  I think that children need the opportunity to release stress, learn how to express themselves, and enjoy time that is not always structured by adults.  This is an important way for them to figure things out and learn by what they have seen.

I would hope that children are given safe opportunities to play, grow and learn.  I know that there are many children who live in situations where it isn’t safe to play outside.  I would hope that these parents would make inside play fun and enjoyable for those children.  All children deserve the right to run, exercise, think, and have fun.  They have to grow up so quick.  As adults I think that we should make it our goal to make this happen.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because I love people.  I am 40 years old, a wife, and mother of 2.  How can I not have relationships.  I grew up with a single young mom and no dad.  My family took care of me and I was raised to think that we are responsible for each other.  It is important to me to make sure that I have positive influences and people around me that I can lean on and that can lean on me. 

My most important relationship that I have other than God is my husband.  We have been together for over 16 years and I could not do some of the things that I do without him.  We learned how to love early but we also had to learn how to fight and argue using God as our guide.  He has been my rock and without this relationship I don't know if I would know how to care for others around me in the positive way that I do.

I also have relationships with other family members that mean so much to me.  My uncle has been a positive role model in my life since I was born.  He has guided me through college and even helped me see different lights when it came to friend relationships.  He has been like a father that I didn't have.

One thing that I recognize about myself is my quickness to remove people from my life when I feel that they have betrayed me.  I feel that if you are not with me you are against me.  This is not always true and I have had to learn to do better by listening and forgiving.  This is hard because growing up I always felt like I had to fight to be in relationships and it was not easy forgiving those that didn't treat me well.

The characteristics that make these relationships special is the honesty and the respect.  All of these people are open, honest, and loving to me.  They tell me what I need to hear and what I don't want to know.  They are always there for me and I love being there for them.

My grandmother was a caregiver in her home and she always taught me to love everybody.  This is special to me because it gives me strength when something is not going well at my job.  I remember that these children might have things going on at home that I might not know about.  I also remember that I have to be a leader and guide them into positive situations and that doing that by example is the best way for them to learn.