Relationship Reflection

The most important relationships I have are with my family.  From the youngest to the oldest members of my family.  I consider these relationships meaningful because these are the people that keep me going, they are supportive and nurturing.

 The relationship that I have with my parents is perhaps one of my favorites.  We attend church, shop, talk and joke everyday and they are ever supportive.  Growing up we had the normal teenage strife but I honestly thank my parents for being the people that they are on an almost daily basis.  I think one thing that stands out and makes this relationship unique is that we are able to talk to each other.  We never walk away from one another upset, we always deal with our problems head on and we work through them.  As a whole we are a very close family and if one person has a need, we pull together to help them with it.

Another example of the closeness of my family.  This picture features my mom, dad (as Santa) and my mother's siblings at our annual Christmas party.  I have a special relationship with each of my uncles and my aunt. My relationship with my aunt is extra special because she's the only one I have and she has truly been a second mom. Her life path took her briefly in another direction but no matter what she's still my aunt and I've learned so much from her.

My grandmother is my absolutely favorite person in the whole world.  I visit my grandmother once or twice a week and talk to her almost daily.  She is another person that I talk to about everything, I love to hear about her childhood.  I consider this relationship special simply because it helps keep me grounded, my grandmother has reached an age where if it needs to be said she says it, no holds barred so you always know she is speaking the truth.  She doesn't sugar coat life for me and I love that about her.

This is one of her favorite pictures as well as mine because in it are several other important relationships.  It is a picture of my grandmother with her great-grandchildren which are my cousins.  I have no "human" children of my own but I have a special bond with every child in this picture.  I have made a point of spending time with each of these children as often as I can.  I frequently plan special days to invite them to my house, to go out and I attend as many of their activities as I can.  I'd like to think that I have been a positive part of their childhood webs :).

This is perhaps my newest relationship, my niece.  She only came into our lives a little over 2 years ago and it seems like she's always been there.  In the little time that I've known her she has been a bright spot on my days.  We spend a lot of time together and she has been introduced to a whole new world of experiences.

  

Although this is not a conventional relationship, it has been an important one in my life nonetheless.  These two actually saved my life a few years ago.  If not for them I probably would not be where I am today.  This has been the simplest relationship to maintain though because their requirements were simple but the returns that they yielded were unmatched.  

I have other relationships, outside of my family but my family relationships are the ones that I put the most stock into.  This includes my best friend and my godsons as they have all been important in my life.  When I think of a challenge to maintaining a relationship it would have to be that with my best friend.  When I got married she let me down in a big way and though I didn't let it show I was so disappointed I've never even talked about it but our relationship is not the same.  I still cherish her with my heart and whether or not she knows how hurt I was, she can and still does call on me anytime she needs me.

In thinking about challenges for maintaining relationships I have to say the hardest part for me is taking the time and dealing with all the drama.  I am very laid back, take life as it comes and I don't like dealing with a lot of extra drama.  I have a very small circle of friends outside of my family that I like to spend time with.  For the most part I try to have fun with them and keep to the positives in life.

Each of these relationships have helped to shape and mold me into the caregiver that I am today.  My parents and grandmother taught the importance of having positive adults in a child's life.  I think that because of the relationships I am more effective as a teacher/caregiver and I treat  each child as my own.  I teach and lead by example every day and try to develop positive relationships with every parent and child in my center.