Relationship Reflection

When looking back over my life so far, I have noticed that there have been several relationships that I have formed that were rather brief and matter of fact. For instance, I went to high school with about 350 other students in my graduating class, but may have only formed actual relationships with a handful of them. Yes, I might be able to still recognize a name here and there, but many of those relationships that were formed during high school dwindled away to a mere memory now.

When I entered college, the same thing happened. I went to college for academic purposes. I truly did not care about the parties and social life that I could have been a part of. I found a church to attend when I lived on campus and they became my "friends" during that year, but once I moved off campus, those "friends" again became memories.

When I started working in the early childhood field, I was hesitant to become "close" to my coworkers because I felt that I was there to do a job: to serve my students and their families. I did not care whether I agree with my coworkers teaching styles or whether I was truly accepted. What mattered most to me was making sure that my students trusted me and through that trust, I was able to foster their overall growth developmentally. When I did start to seek my coworkers' opinions about early childhood education, I was surprised to see the lack of interest from them. They did not share the passion for the field like I did. I found it rather difficult to progress further in my professionalism when I did not receive the support and feedback that I was seeking from those surrounding me.

I started working with a great group of early childhood professionals this past November and it has made a world of a difference in my professional relationships. I feel as though I can share my thoughts and ideas with my colleagues and even if they do not agree with my views, they still respect my opinion and will offer professional guidance when needed. In turn, I have gained a significant amount of confidence about my growth and knowledge within the early childhood industry, which has carried over to other personal relationships.

My parents have always been extremely supportive of the decisions that I have made throughout my life. My father has always given me the freedon to make my own choices, but will express his concern if he feels that my decision is too risky. My mother has been more cautious, especially when I decided to enter the education field because she knew that education careers are hard to come by where we live. However, through her love and confidence in me, she gave me her blessing and has stood by my side as I graduated with my Bachelor's degree and am working on my Master's in early childhood studies.

My husband and I have been together for almost 7 years now and ever since day 1, he has been by my side through everything. There have been times where I have wanted to give up on work or school because I wanted more family time, but he would remind me that it was always best for our family's future for me to stick with things and has has been right. I am going through that struggle again since we are expecting our 2nd child in July. I deep down want to stay home with our children, but financially, it just is not an option. My husband keeps reminding me that our decisions now will pay off down the road and I just need to be persistent. He has truly held our family and myself together and I do not know where I would be right now without his love and support.

And then there is our daughter. I like to say that she and I have a "love-not like" relationship. I absolutely love her to death and would do anything for this child. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our family and I am truly grateful for that. However, I do "not like" many of her choices and actions. My poor husband has to come in and save the day too many times because my daughter and I are arguing (and she's only 3 years old!). I have to accept the fact that she gets under my skin so much because we are simply so much alike. We are both extremely stubborn and will say what is on our mind. Plus, she has absolutely has no fear and will do anything she sets her mind to. She keeps me on my toes and I have learned that I have to be more patient with her, but it is still tough.

This is a picture of my husband, Dan, and daughter, Madelynn, when we went on vacation in November 2012. If you look closely, you will see that my daughter is holding Lamby, another important member of our family. Lamby is Madelynn's lovey and if Lamby ever gets lost, our whole family falls apart until Lamby is found again.