My Connections to Play

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” – Mr. Rogers

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson 

My family was very supportive when it comes to play. We didn't live close to any other kids, so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves. It helped that I grew up with four sisters and we made life very entertaining. We live by a bunch of hills and we would go exploring all the time. We would ride bikes and go hiking in the hills. In the winter is was sledding, and snowboarding. Inside, I would dress up and play house, and my mom and or sisters would play with me and be any person or character I wanted them be. We also played a lot of cards. My grandpa taught me how to play pinochle when I was in third grade and I love it. We have card parties all the time, and a lot of my aunts and uncles and cousin will come over.  
Play was an important part of my childhood. I have some great memories of playing with my sisters and  cousins when they would come over. As I am sitting here typing this sitting in my parents kitchen after supper with some of my sisters we are reminiscing about all the things we use to do. 

I think play today is very different then what it was when I was growing up. Now days they are a lot of electronics that kids use to entertain themselves. Some kids don't know how to use their imaginations anymore. They don't go outside and find ways to entertain themselves. In some schools they don't let their students play. They don't have time to let them play in schools anymore. I feel that parents are running into the same problem. Schedules are busy so I feel that they use iPads, or Xbox's, to entertain their kids. There are a lot of good educational games for the Ipads and iPhones , and if used correctly they can be a good way to entertain kids. I also know that a lot of parents set time limits on such devices, so that kids aren't hooked on them. I hope that kids now days can get outside and play and use their imagination. I hope that they are able to play in schools. Kids learn so much from playing, that I hope that it doesn't becoming extinct. 

As a Kindergarten teacher I play with my kids all the time, when we are having Free Choice. We use our imaginations, and we role play. I also still participate in family, card nights. I love it when my family gets together and we play cards and games. 

The first picture is with a new POGO stick that I got for my niece for Christmas. I use to love playing on the POGO stick. The second picture is one of the many outfits that I would play dress up in. 

Relationship Reflections

I have many relationships/partnerships in my life. They all take work to maintain to maintain a lasting relationship. Relationship are important to me, because you need people in your life that you can trust, count on, people that will support you, and watch out for you. The relationships that I am going to talk about are with, my mom and dad, my younger sister MacKenzie, my best friends Amy and Amber, and the relationships that I have with my nieces and nephews.

I hang out with my mom a lot. We will go shopping, go out for supper, or we will pick up my nieces and nephews and take them to the park. I can always count on her to help me with anything, and support me in whatever I do. I don't always agree with what she has to stay and I don't always listen, but I know she always has my best interest at heart. I get very frustrated easily with my mom, and I know, when I get that way I need just a few days away from her.:) She knows this about me and understands that I need my space. My mom is the greatest and I don't know what I would do with out her. 

My dad is another relationship that is very important to me. He doesn't like to take pictures so there is not a lot of them. He has helped me with sports and we both have a love of history. We watch the History channel together and he always thinks he can stump me with trivia questions. We also share a love of movies. I remember wining a contest on the radio to go see Lara Croft Tomb Raider and the first person I wanted to take was my dad. He always supports me and my sisters and I couldn't have asked for a better dad. 

I have four sisters and I am very close relationships with all of them. I am probably the closest to my younger sister MacKenzie. We never really got along when we were younger, and were always blaming things we did wrong on each other. We are three years apart, and it wasn't until I was a senior in High School and her a freshmen, when we really started getting along. She is currently going to Chiropractic School in Minnesota and we call each other at least once week. We will take about everything and anything. This relationship takes a lot of work because she is way more controlling and wants everything her way, and I am avery go with the flow kinda person. They have been times when we will not talk for a couple weeks because we are mad at each other, and then very stubborn, so neither of us want to apologize first. 

My best friends Amber and Amy are so awesome. I am glad that we all became great friends together. I met Amber my freshman year of high school, and we have been best friends every since. Like any relationship with a friend it has been work. We fight and we disagree and for a few years we didn't really hang out together. However, we have stayed friends and had to work to maintain this friendship. 

I met Amy when I was in my early twenties. We worked together at my dad's restaurant and went to school together. We share a passion for teaching together. She is a High School History teacher. Again,we have had to work at our relationship. All three of us have become great friends and we try to have monthly lunch/dinner date to catch up what each other is doing. We all have busy lives but, we make it work to be together. 

These are my nieces and nephews, and I love them to pieces. I want to be a part of their lives, so I make sure that I am at every birthday party, and any event that they might have. Since I don't have any kids as of now, I spoil all of them. I will take each one of them for a day, and spend one on one time with them, so they know that each one of them are special to me. 

Relationships are very important and are something that needs to be worked on. You can't take relationships for granted because life is too short.