MY SUPPORTS

“God meets and always has met every human need.” 

–Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

SPIRITUALITY

My number one support in life is Christian Science.  My understanding of God and my relationship to Him has helped me through challenges in life that seemed hopeless and bleak.  My daily prayer and study of the bible protects me from daily and life challenges.  I start every day grateful for the day that God has given me, knowing that I will walk with Him and express only the qualities of God.  In Christian Science we have 7 synonyms of God that help us to understand our Mother/Father/God.  God is Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love.  Without the support of Christian Science I would not have the tools to turn negative situations around.  The constant seeking of Truth keeps me living to my highest sense of right and I expect only good to be in my life because God is good and I am His reflection.

PEOPLE

As I have discussed before relationships are a huge support for me.  The people in my life give me emotional support.  I have different people for different moods and needs.  There is someone for every need: spiritual guidance and support, a hug, to gripe, and/or problem solving.  I need the support of others in my day.  I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I need people that want to listen and let me vent.  I am not a very stressful person because I am able to let things out and not bottle it up.

PRACTICAL

I would say the most obvious practical daily support I use is organization.  Everything has a place.  I do not often lose things because of this.  If my home or work space is not clean and organized I feel frazzled and unfocused.  Waking up to a messy house leaves me feeling chaotic and disorganized for the entire day.  Organization is equated to peace of mind for me.  I feel calmer and happier with organized spaces.

HANDLING CHALLENGES

Regardless of any challenge that occurred (physical, medical, mental, grief), I am confident that my supports would get me through it.  All of the supports that I mentioned before would be there for me to adjust to changes and to help build me up to a better place.  I have a husband that would move heaven and earth to help me and friends and family that would drop everything to be by my side in times of dire need.  I have seen this in practice.  A few years ago one of my best friends, out of our group of four, was suffering a great loss.  One of those friends paid to fly me to the friend in grief because she thought she needed me most, at that time.  My supports are selfless and I never feel alone!

MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY

AS A CHILD PLAY MEANT:

Play as a child allowed me to research the world around me and who I wanted to be. 

As a child play allowed me to try out occupations, mimic my older sister and mother, and make sense of the experiences.  Play taught me to be creative and independent at times, but also taught me how to cooperate and work with others.

Even as an adult when I go to conferences, I would rather play with manipulatives then be told how to use them in the classroom.  I would rather sing new songs then be given the lyrics.  I am always 10x more likely to actually use new strategies when I have had a chance to try them out.

PLAY THAT INSPIRED ME:

The #1 thing I remember doing as a child is playing school.  I played with my sister and I played by myself with my stuffed animals.  This was my favorite thing to do.  I would take home old textbooks that they would give away at the end of the year to play with.

Roller skating was a part of life!  It got me all around the neighborhood and later all around town!

My best friend had a crawl space under her steps.  We would decorate it and make up club rules for our secret clubhouse.  No one else ever joined, but we sure had fun spending hours creating it!

Playing with Barbie was a huge part of my childhood.  Although we never used it as dramatic play, my sister and I would spend hours setting up and creating Barbie’s house.  We used zip-lock bags for water beds and wash cloths for blankets.  It was a very creative outlet!

THE ROLE OF PLAY AND ITS IMPORTANCE:

I think the best way that people supported my play was giving me the space and time to do it.  I lived in such a different world when I was a kid from my kids now.  When I was a child children did not have game systems and so many screens to play with.  We did have TV, but it was pretty limited to after school and Saturday morning cartoons.  The rest of the time you played inside and out. All the parents in the neighborhood looked after all the kids.  There were eyes on us, but not watching everything we did.  We had so much freedom to explore and work things out.  Many times I came home mad at neighbor kids because the game didn't go my way.  The next day I was out and playing again.  When I was in 5^th grade I was organizing my own plans and then roller skating across town to my friend’s house to play.  My 5^th grade son struggles to make plans of his own and wouldn't know the way to his friend’s house.  We were educated about the dangers of strangers and the world and then allowed to go out and explore it.

Our children are seriously missing some important life skills because they do not have these interactions anymore.  When I spent a week outside making a fort with friends on the side of the garage I was learning to have a great work ethic.  When I would argue and fuss about rules of a game I was learning to cooperate, negotiate, and compromise with others.  When I would fall down and get hurt, but get back up I learned determination and persistence.  When I was outside I learned to how to be safe and aware of my surroundings.  I was aware when a white van circled the block a couple times and we all decided to go in and tell our parents.  The independence taught me how to problem solve as well, which I see children in this generation unable to do.  Children complain, tattle, and require their parents’ involvement before even trying to solve their own problems.  Thomas (2013), explains some of the effects of losing free play that we once had as children, “obesity; high stress levels; rapidly increasing diagnosis of ADHD, depression, and emotional fragility; social incompetence; excessive dependence on adults, and the loss of a relationship with nature.”

In a changing world it is difficult to convince parents to provide more free play time for their children.  So it is even more important that we work to keep free play in early childhood programs!  The children need it more than they ever needed it before!  It is not only a natural way to learn, but it is necessary!

REFERENCES

   Thompson, Ph.D., M. (2013). The Impact of the Loss of Free, Undirected       Play in Childhood (And What Camps Can Do About It). In American Camp   Association. Retrieved February 1, 2014,              from http://www.campparents.org/newsletter/0905/article2