My Supports

When I think about my supports, it brings to mind so many different things and people.  I must first begin with who I believe is my biggest support and the one who helps me get through so many things in my life and that is God!!  He is where I get my strength to go on even when I want to give in.  Next I have to give thanks for family.  My mother and children without whom I would not be where I am.  Their continued support and encouragement is why I am currently pursuing my educational goals.  I am a single parent and it gives me so much joy to hear my children say how much I inspire them to never give up and to realize that they can have whatever they desire because of what I am doing.  We have undergone some really tough times to get to this point.  Some of them would make most people give up, but I realized that it made me stronger and more resilient. 

The people I work with are a great support system for me because when it comes to team work, I feel that we invented the word.  We have so many different programs operating within our agency, but because we work as one, the programs are seamless.  We help when and where we are needed in order to get the job done.  It is because of our Executive Director who doesn't mind getting in there and doing whatever it takes whether it's in the classroom or board room and sometimes in the bathroom.  She has not only been supportive but also my mentor.  I know her as my Supervisor, friend and Pastor. This is what helps me daily when things get overwhelming and I feel as though I cannot do anymore, she lets me know that I can because there's still so much left to do.  I work with children with special needs and their families.  I work long hours, travel quite often, spend a lot of time doing community work, attending meetings and going to school.  When I'm not doing this, I spend a lot of time in church and working with those who need my services there.  My friends, co-workers and family constantly tell me that they don't understand how I can do so much but without their constant support and encouragement, I couldn't and I often let them know this.  If it were not for prayer, love and the overwhelming support of those close to me, I don't know where I would be.

We must all realize that knowing that someone is there for you and cares, makes a difference in your life, but just as they are giving and supportive of you, you also must be just as generous with others.  I learned that a word, gesture, lending a hand or just being there can make all the difference in the world to a person no matter what state of mind they are in.  It helps to know that you're not alone and that someone believes in you.   

My Connections to Play

It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.

D.W. Winnicott
British pediatrician
1896–1971

 

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato
Greek philosopher
427–347 BC

When I think about my childhood and play in my neighborhood, I remember my grandmother and my babysitter.  Mrs. Mathis was my babysitter and she always made sure we spent as much time outside playing as inside learning.  I can remember always having a ball because kickball and dodge ball were my two favorite games.  We did not have a lot, but we were happier than at any other time in my life. Parents actually made their children go outside and play in order for them to work off excess energy and because it was all the entertainment most of us had during that time. The innocence that goes with being young and enjoying life with your friends reminds me of good times, being carefree and never worrying.  We didn’t need a lot to feel that we had everything.  Today’s children still have that innocence.  The difference between our play and the play children engage in today is that there is less time and emphasis placed on its importance in the lives of children.  It is no longer important that children have recess or that that spend quality time outside engaging in play.  We did not have the luxury of spending our days watching television, playing video games or texting on the phone.  Children would rather spend time playing and looked forward to that time each day before the “sun went down” and we would have to go inside.  In the State of Mississippi, we have the highest obesity rate of any state in the nation.  A lot of this is not just because of our eating, but also because of the lack of exercise our children get because they spend more time sitting in a classroom than on a playground.  We spend more time stressing the importance of math, English, and science that on a child’s health and proper exercise and nutrition.  As a child, play allowed me to develop socially and physically and has helped me today when it comes to working with our children in the classroom, on the playground or engaging them during a counseling session.  We must look at helping the whole child and that means not overlooking the importance of play.  It is as important in the development of a child as their social, emotional and cognitive skills.  A healthy child is a happy child and play is a vital part of that happiness.