My Supports

My daily supports: 

I have been fortunate to have a life filled with support. My biggest support is my relationship with God. My relationship with my Heavenly Father has helped guide me through life. I know that God loves me and that He is in control of my life. I trust him with all of my life. It is hard to imagine my life without my Lord and Savior. It would be extremely difficult for me if I did not have my relationship with God. I would feel lost without my relationship with God. He is a part of my everyday life and He is always by my side. I think my whole life would be completely different without having God as a support. I would not be married to my husband, living in my house, or even living in Georgia. Not only has my relationship with God given me great support in my life, but also reading my Bible.

My Bible has provided me with unlimited support throughout my life. Every choice and situation that I have faced I use my Bible to find the answers. It is relevant in every aspect my life. If I did not relay on my Bible, I would not know how to handle certain situations that come up in life. My Bible not only helps me know what decision I should make, but it also helps me to deepen my relationship with God. When I have a deeper relationship with God it helps me to develop loving and meaningful relationships with others that God has placed in my life.  

God has given me a supportive husband. My husband is a great listener and always wants what is best for me. He is my anchor. My husband is always seeking the best ways to support me and our family. He helps me to stay focused on our Heavenly Father when life is stressful and seems like it is to much to handle. I have thought about what my life would look like if I did not have my husband and it becomes overwhelming for me. My husband is loving, funny, laid back, honest, and encouraging. He is my husband and my best friend. If I did not have my husband, I would be a stressed out worry wort. My husband has helped me to find my voice and confidence in who I am and what I believe in. If I did not have my husband, I feel that I would lack the confidence that I need to stand up for what I believe in. 

My mother is a big support in my life. She has been teaching in the Early Childhood field for over 25 years. When I have challenges that come up in the classroom that I am not sure how to face, I go to my mom for help and advice. She always gives me wise godly advice on how to handle various situations that I face daily in my classroom. I would not of been able to make it in the early childhood field if I did not have my mother. I would have handle situations differently that would of changed who I am as an educator. 

Not only do I have relationships that provide me support, but also list and technology. If you would walk into my classroom or home you will notice list. I have list for what I need to purchase at the store to list that help me stay on track for what needs to get done in that day. I feel like Toad, from Frog and Toad, if I lose my list then I forget what needs to be done. If I did not have my list I would not be able to get work accomplished during the day. My list help me to remember. My biggest problem is remembering where I put my list. I also use my phone and laptop as a daily support. I have a Mac laptop and a iphone. This allows me to keep my calendars updated on both sources. If I input something on my phone calendar, it will show up on my laptop calendar and vise versa. I also use both sources to keep up with my emails from my work and parents in my classroom. If I did not have my phone or laptop, I would not be able to have access to email or calendar. If I had to use a different type of calendar, I would consistently be losing it. Having a calendar on my laptop or phone is great, because I never lose both.

 My Challenge and the Supports that I will need: 

I am 7 1/2 months pregnant with my and my husbands first child. Since this is our first child, I am unsure of the challenges and supports that we will need as we enter parenthood. Becoming a parent is going to be both a blessing and a large responsibility. I feel that I am ready to be a parent, as long as I have my support system. One of the biggest challenges that I am going to face as a first time mom is living so far away from family. My family lives 11 hours away and my husbands family lives 13 hours away from us. We have absolutely no family close by. Our biggest support is going to be one another. My husband will be supportive in helping take care of the house, our baby girl, and providing income. Since my husband and I are both going to be working, I will need a babysitter for baby Candyce. One of my co-workers  retried from teaching last year and she will be taking care of baby Candyce. She is going to be a big support in my life and my baby's life. I will need her to help me with different choices that I will need to make as a mother. She will also be a support to my daughter because Candyce will become her adopted granddaughter.  Not only will I need my husband and my daughters babysitter as support, but I will also need my church family. Since my husband and I live so far away from our families, our church has become our adopted family. The church will be a support in helping guide me in how to become a godly parent. I want to show my daughter that God loves and cares for her and I know that my church will help me in showing God's love. My family will also be a big support in my journey of becoming a mom. I will be able to call and/or Facetime my family to ask for advice. I will also need the support of my doctors. We will need to have a predication that will support us in ensuring that our daughter is healthy and developing right on track. Having a child requires a unlimited amount of support. I know that my daughter is going to be loved by me, my husband, and the supports that we develop around her.

My Connections to Play

Quotes that summarize my playtime as a child

"Life must be lived as play."
Plato
Retrieved from http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

Albert Einstein 
Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/0313/Albert-Einstein-15-great-quotes-on-his-birthday/Imagination-is-power



"Play is the highest form of research."   
Albert Einstein    
Retrieved from  http://www.joyofquotes.com/play_quotes.html

 "…play produces feelings of pleasure which help you escape from two major creativity killers – stress and self-consciousness."   
Jordan Ayan    
Retrieved from http://www.joyofquotes.com/play_quotes.html




How people in my life helped to support play

Some of my favorite memories are built around playing. My family and I would have a game night about once a week. We would turn the television off and would spend the evening playing board games and card games as a family. It was a great way for our family to play together and spend quality time with one another.

I also remember always being outside playing. The only time that I would be inside the house playing was when the it was late or the weather would not permit me to go outside. I would spend hours upon hours riding my bicycle with neighborhood friends, playing on the neighborhood playing, climbing trees, or just pretending to be anything I wanted to be. 

As I grew up, my style of playing had changed. I went from playing with the neighborhood children to playing ball with my teammates. In middle school, high school, and college my play revolved around sports. I loved playing basketball and soccer and everything that I did was built around becoming better at my sports. I would spend hours playing hoops with my father or kicking a soccer ball around with my brother.

The similarities and differences from my playtime and playtime for today's generation

When observing children in today's generation playing I can tell that they still enjoy using their imagination. I would hardly go an minute without using my imagination. I do not think there is a big age gap between my generation and today's generation of children, but there is a big playing gap. 

As a child I was always playing outside, and when I couldn't be outside playing my parents had a small trampoline in the house that I could jump on. I always wanted to be moving and doing something. One of the biggest differences that I have noticed from my childhood that is missing in a lot of my students childhood, is the desire to just play without the assistance of some form of technology. Don't get me wrong, I loved playing on my Nintendo when it was raining. It is sad to see how unsafe and corrupt the neighborhoods have become. When I was a girl we could play out in the streets for hours without having the parents watching every move. Today's generation rarely get to have that privilege.


The role of play throughout my life

Playing has helped me to stay focused and on task when needed. As a child I would play just for the pure pleasure of playing. It was enjoyable and helped me to meet new friends. As I grew my playing turned into sports, which taught me a lot of life lessons. Through the sports I have learned self-discipline, unity, teamwork, winning, losing, and so much more. Now that I am not involved in childhood playing or sport teams, I  go to the gym to shoot a basketball and play one on one with my husband. When I pick up a basketball, all of the days stresses and worries just melt away for the brief moment of time.  So many times I get focused on the tasks that are due tomorrow that I end up missing the beauty of the moment. Playing helps me to relax and to enjoy that moment.