My Connections To Play

"In our play we reveal what kind of people we are."

-Ovid

"It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self."

- D.W. Winnicott

These quotes represent what I feel play represented for me in childhood because through my time of playing I discovered what I wanted to be when I grew up.

A Baby Doll

 

I used to love playing house with my baby dolls for hours. I had about five baby dolls, each baby would get their own name and I would play the mommy to all of them.

A Teacher

 

As I started school, I was fascinated with the teacher. When I was done with my homework, I would keep out all my school supplies, make an attendance sheet, make problems for the "students" to solve. I usually made my sister and cousins play along with me as my "students".

Play for me:
The way in which people supported play in my life, were giving me as much time to play whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted. I was rarely ever told to stop playing or that I couldn't use my imagine. Since my play time was never hindered I was able to explore my world and myself and worked through my feelings in a fashion that didnt involve me yelling at my family members (I was a big screamer).

Play today:
I personally feel play today has changed so much from when I was a young child. The lack of imagination in children today worries me. I used to love to use my imagination and create things around me. Children today mostly play video games or sit on the computer, there is not much use of their own imagination. When children are told to be creative they are stuck because they no longer know how to be.

Play through out my life:
Play through out my life has encouraged me to be what I wanted to be when I grew up. Since I was so interested in playing the teacher role, it is no surprise that I am a teacher today. Also with my love of playing with babies, it shows how I love to interact with babies and cannot wait to have some of my own.

References:

http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

Relationship Reflection

“Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” William James

Relationships are what makes us who we are. The connections we have with others gives us courage to explore ourselves, confidence to be outspoken and have someone to be on our side with a shoulder if needed. 

My mother is one of the people I have the greatest relationships with. My mother is my best friend and is always there to lend support and be a sounding board even if I didn't ask for it. She is my number one cheerleader but can also knock me back down to Earth when my head gets to big. Now that I am older, I can see that my relationship towards her has changed from depending on her, to being able to help her. It is not such a one sided relationship know that I am older. 

My best friend Casandra and my relationship has evolved since we first met our freshman year of college. 

We bounded over things we couldn't change and eventually helped each other deal with the circumstances we were in. Being roommates in college changed our relationship from that of just friends to more like sisters, since everything changes when you live with someone. We had to work with each others quarks to make our living arrangement's comfortable for everyone. Our relationship is very much based on compromise and compassion. 

My supervisor, Kendra, has become one of my closest friends. Our relationship took awhile to grow on me because I have never been able to have such a comfortable work environment where I could express my own opinions. She has easily become a great sounding board for ideas. We work great together because at the end of the day we have the same goal and both want to reach it. 

Challenges from relationships come with time, it is a matter of if someone will speak up about them or push them under the rug. Every relationship needs to be worked on and isn't perfect every minute of everyday. There needs to be compassion and understanding from both parties. No matter what the challenge is, it can be overcome if everyone wants it to be. 

These relationships and how I feel about them can impact how I work in the field of early childhood education because a relationship with each child and parent is essential to creating a good learning and developmental atmosphere for children. Like every relationship it should grow over time and become very strong and open. No ones opinions should be over looked and everyone's best interest should be that of the child.