My Connections to Play

 

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Proverb

Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game. Voltaire

Play, for me, was something that was really hard.  Going to school, being able to play with other kids my age, was that of anxiety for me.  Play for children is really important, especially if it is encouraged by parents as well as other adults that the children come in contact with.

For me, growing up, I would play by myself.  I would spend quite a bit of time by myself and so I got really good at pretend and playing with “imaginary” friends.  I didn’t have one imaginary friend, it was more a case of pretending that I was in different situations.  When it came to going to school, or even in daycare, I really had a hard time making friends.  I ended up having to spend a lot of time playing by myself.  If I did make friends, I ended up getting the raw end of the deal, in the fact that I ended up getting picked on.  The reason that I would play by myself is because after being taken care of by my grandparents, I would go home and get put to bed before I was ready for bed, and as a result I would have to play in my bedroom by myself until I was ready to go to bed.

As far as play is concerned these days, there are more opportunities for kids to play video games.  Places where people live is making it really hard for children to have a safe place to play.  Where I live now, there is a little play area, but if I see children playing anywhere outside, it is in the street with their friends.  Living in a trailer park makes it a little easier to play a little safer in the street because there aren’t that many cars driving.  In other neighborhoods where there is more traffic, it can be a bit more dangerous.

As I have grown up, like I said before, I used to play by myself.  When I was in school like middle school, playing four-square or team sports in PE were the only times that I could enjoy playing.  When I was in 7th and 8th grade, I went to the Boys and Girls club and did get to play sports and pool and cards with people that were closer to my age.  As an adult I will occasionally get to play team sports or games with family, but I have found that those times anymore are few and far between.  I am hoping that things will change in regard to play when I have children of my own.

Relationship Reflection

 

One of the people that I have a positive relationship and partnership with would be my husband, Jeremie. The relationship that I have with him has been one of lots of distance and patience.  The reason this relationship is important to me is that it is one that has been built on trust.

Another set of people that I have a positive relationship with would be my grandparents.  These two wonderful individuals have been there for me ever since I was a baby.  They have been pretty important because of the respect that I have for them as well as love.  They have taken care of me, let me live with them and I look to them as my heroes.  

Another person that I have a partnership with is my mentor teacher Elizabeth Yaw.  She was a teacher that I worked with during my student teaching.  She teaches 1st and 2nd grade in at Milton Stateline Adventist School in Milton-Freewater, OR.   She was encouraging to me because she would help me but she would also tell me what I did right so that I could learn.  She also gave me a chance to interact with the parents of the students in her classroom.

These relationships that I talked about have been very important in that they have developed over time.  My grandparents and my husband both are personal relationships that can help when  times get tough because I can lean on them.  I have developed trust over time with my husband because of getting to know him and spending time with him.  The partnership that I have developed with Elizabeth Yaw started out with getting to know her as a friend which made it much easier to work with her in a classroom setting.  We had been able to establish a good report and that way if she gave me tips on how to improve as a teacher, it was taken as help not criticism.  There was also a level of trust between the two of us because she knew that she could count on me to make sure that the class was in good hands when she couldn’t be there.  She would call me, after I was done student teaching for her, and ask me to substitute teach for her.