Relationship Reflection:

Relationships are very important to me, as they should be to everyone. There of course are different types of relationships that i have formed throughout my lifetime. I have some close family relationships, relationships with friends that are closer than some family, everyday relationships with friends, acquaintances, relationships with my coworkers, relationships with the families of children i care for or children i have cared for in the past, relationships with each of my children, a relationship with my husband, and a relationship with God. All of these are important to me, but all are different. My most valuable relationship would be the relationship i have with God. My most valuable relationship with another person would be the one between my husband and i. He completes me and makes me whole. He is my rock and the love of my life. I enjoy the relationships that i have with each of my children, and i am thankful for the ones that i have with family and friends.

Each relationship that i have has had up's and downs, but they have become stronger because of these experiences. The relationship that i have with my husband is a positive one, im not saying that it has always been easy, but the trials that we have gone through has made us closer. Some things that contribute to our relationship would be good communication, compromise, and trying to look at things from the others point of view. Understanding myself and my feelings helps me to try and understand his feelings. The same is true with my relationship with my children. They are all very different and enjoy different things. I do my best to let each of them know that i am here for them no matter what, i will love them no matter what the situation, and even though i dont like it when they do things i don't approve of i encourage them to be open and honest and we will work through every situation. Communication is very important when building any relationship.

There have been times that i have tried to build or keep ongoing relationships with people when it just doesnt work out. There are several reasons for this to happen, and even though it was hard at the time i have learned from my experiences. Relationships take time, and as we grow and our lives change sometimes we dont have the time to devote to relationships that we once had. When this happens we will begin to not have as close of a relationship with the person that we once had. There can also be an event that happens that causes disagreements, and sometimes they can be worked out, but sometimes they can not. Sometimes although both parties try and resolve the issue the relationship will never be the way it was before the incident. I have learned that you need to understand the feelings and beliefs of others and do your best not to be disrespectful of them. You also need to have an honest and open communication in order for the relationship to be long term and positive.

My experiences with relationships will contribute to my work as an early childhood professional. I have had both good and bad experiences and have learned from the mistakes that i have made. I strive to be open with the families that i work with, and through my actions let them know that i sincerely would like to form a relationship with them so that together we can work as a team and act in the best interest of the child/children. I let the parents know that they can tell me anything. I accept input in all aspects of my classroom including room arrangement, lesson plans, activities, goals for their children, and anything else they would like to give me their input about. I let them know that i am here to work with them, and that i will help them with all that i am able to.

Thank You to all of my classmates:

I wanted to say thank you to all of my classmates of EDUC 6160. It has been very inspirational reading many of your blogpost's as well as reading your post's in the discussions. I have learned and grown a great deal during this class, and know that this is only the beginning of this journey that we are all on. Thank you for the many words of encouragement as well as feedback during this class. I hope to have more classes with you all.

Favorite Quote About Children....

"A person's a person, no matter how small"
By Dr. Seuss


This is and has been one of my favorite quotes for a long time. In just a few words so much is said. If you just sit and think about the many different meanings that this quote can have it can be mind boggling. What it makes me think of is that children need to be respected and treated like a person, like they have value no matter how old they are. It means that children should never be treated like property, or treated like they do not have feelings or an opinion, or even like they don't matter. Children should be lifted up and treated like the miracle that they are, and should be given the best opportunities possible, and loved like they should be.

Testing For Intelligence?

Should children be asesed and tested, and if so what should be assesed, tested, and measured? This is a question that i have found to be highly debatable, often with strong emotions attached to it. Here is my point of view:

I think that children should be assessed informally by their caregivers, educators, parents, and physician so that if there are any areas that the child is delayed or any areas that there are suspected disabilities or special needs the child can be formally assessed, and the problem can be focused on early in order to detur any major delay's in the future. I feel that children should be measured according to the averages that all children develop. Even though a child may be on the lower average there may be no special need or delay detected, but with basic informal assessments there would be an idea of possible delay's and the parents and caregivers would know what the child needs to work on.

Violence...

The topic i chose was violence, specifically violence in the home. This is something that i experienced as a young child that i knew was wrong, but did not know how greatly it affected me until later in my life. I was a very quiet, obedient child. I was very shy and had some trouble making friends. My parents divorced when i was extremely young due to abuse in the home, and unfortunately my mother continued to have abusive partners. I always hated my mother's boyfriends, even before things became violent. I never wanted anyone to ever be at the house, and didn't really realize why. This included anybody, male or female, and i didn't even want other children at my house. I really didn't want to interact with children at school either. This is how it affected me. I swore that when i became an adult i would never be with a man who was abusive. Unfortunately my first husband was abusive. I put up with it for a while. I hid it from others for as long as i could. I tried to tell myself he didn't mean it, and all the things you always hear people say. Then i looked at how my children were becoming. I thought they didn't know, but by the things they were acting out i realized they did know. As soon as my eyes were opened to the reality i was living i quickly left my husband and have moved on with my life. My children have unfortunately been affected, however it is no where near as severely as it could have been if i would have continued to stay in the abusive situation. There are many places that feel a husband has the right to keep his wife in line, and treat her whatever way that he sees fit. I thank God that i live in a place that offers a great deal of resources to the abused as long as they choose to seek the resources and get out of a bad situation. There are many people that will continue to endure the abuse because they feel they have no choice, there are some that will lose their life to their abusers, and children that see the abuse and are helpless to their situation. It is a sad circle, and i hope that others will realize that there is a way out.

Breastfeeding....

Breastfeeding is something that is very important to me, and i have strong feelings when it comes to mothers nursing their children. Although there are alternatives to breastfeeding, nursing is important to children in more than just nutritional ways. A bond is created between a mother and child when the child is nursed. Children that are nursed are always held when they are fed and this reduces the possibility of choking or other things that can happen when young children are left alone with a bottle. And Nursing is much more healthy for the young child with all of the benefits that breastfeeding offers.

In other countries, even third world countries breastfeeding infants is much more common than it is here in the United States. There are several reasons for this. Some reasons for this are that it has always been common practice and it is more widely accepted, in poor countries there are no available alternatives to nursing your own children, and when children are breastfed there is less chance of infection and disease.

I will use the information i have learned in order to encourage other mothers to breastfeed their young children, and give them the necessary information to know the benefits of breastfeeding. I will also let them know that there is a great deal of help offered to assist mothers with breastfeeding. While i was nursing my children i was given some information that caused me to not continue nursing my children that i later found out that was not correct. I would have liked to continue nursing my children and am sorry that i listened to the sources that i did. 

Some sources that were helpful while doing my research for this blog are:

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1405

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/

http://www.llli.org/

http://www.breastfeeding.com/

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=257&topic_id=1357

http://www.007b.com/public-breastfeeding-world.php

http://www.breastfeed.com/nursing-mothers-life/nursing-facts

A Personal Birth Experience....

I have given birth to 4 children, and have had a different experience with each one of them. Not all of them were good experiences, and i would have to say that each one was an adventure. For this assignment i think i will tell you about my last child, and how he arrived to this world.

With this child i had gone through labor 3 times before, and knew pretty much what was going to happen. I felt contractions start coming on early in the day and knew i would be having him sometime that day. I had plans to go to lunch with a family friend who had already drove 2 hours to come to my house. I didnt want to cancel the plans that we had. I called my mom, also 2 hours away, and told her that i would need her to come out because she was the one that was going to help with my other children while i was in the hospital. I got everything ready to go to lunch with the family friend, and we went out. The contractions were still very mild, but i let him know that if they began to get stronger or more regular i would have to hurry up and go. All of my labor's have been very short, this is the only one that i felt coming on so mildly. Lunch was a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. On the way back to my house the contractions began getting stronger. We arrived to my house, and my mom was already there, looking a little frazzled, but doing ok. I told our family friend goodbye, and told my mom that we would have to go soon. I called my husband at work and told him that he needed to come home as well. My husband was not yet home when i decided we needed to go ahead and head to the hospital. My step dad watched the kids so we could go. My mom became very worried that she would not be able to find the hospital, or drive me on base (it was a navy hospital) so i had to drive. It is very uncomfortable to drive when you are having contractions by the way. We got there and went in. They began monitoring me right away, and called my midwife to let her know i was there. The contractions quickly got stronger (more like what i am used to) and my husband arrived shortly after. I was given my own room and admitted. The baby was ready to come. While they were monitoring me the midwife got very worried, the baby was not doing well. His heart rate dropped every time i had a contraction. They put a monitor into the skin on his head (yes, while he was still inside) and several people were watching the monitor outside of my room. All of a sudden they all rushed in and said they had to take him out now. One of the nursed got on each side, another prepared the area for the baby, and a third physically pulled him out while i pushed the best i could. The cord was wrapped around his neck, under his arm, then around his chest. This is what was causing his heart to stop. After he was out he was doing very well. We did not have any extended stays at the hospital, and he is now a strong and playful four year old boy.

I chose to use this example because it was my last birth, and while they were all pretty dramatic, this one is one of the better experiences that i've had.

Recalling this time in my life and comparing it to infant development helps to point out that everything a child experiences in his or her life affects them in some way. As a parent i cant help but wonder if the time that he was in distress has affected him in some way. Would he have been different if his delivery went smoother, if he wasn't losing oxygen to his brain when his heart stopped those few times? I also have to wonder what could have happened if i wasn't at the hospital yet. What would have happened then? They are so many things that can affect children both positively and negatively. Everything that they experience affects them in some way.