Relationship Reflection

There are many types of relationships that I have come across during my life, all of which I feel are important to who I am today.

My husband, Mikey as I call him, is the most important relationship that I have. He is my number one fan and biggest supporter. He is my partner in crime and the best friend that I have found. In order to maintain our relationship we have found communication and honesty to be the most important factors. I consider my relationship with my husband to also be a partnership because we must live together and make decisions together. In order to do this effectively, we have to be partners and agree on things.

My mother, Traci, is another very important relationship for me. She is always supportive of me but is also my voice of reason. She gives me advice when I need it and helps me to see farther down the road when I can't. Maintaining a relationship with my mother has not been a challenge for me at all, as I am lucky to only live 2 hours away from her. We talk on the phone often and we visit each other about once a month.

My grandmother, Joyce, is also an important relationship in my life. She helped raise me as a child and has never missed a game, band concert, etc. She listens to my rants, offers words of wisdom, and tells me outright when I am being ridiculous about something. She doesn't sugarcoat anything for me, she just tells me like it is and I love that about her. I live 2 hours away from her and my grandaddy as well, so our relationship is rather easy to maintain. We talk on the phone and visit often. Our favorite thing to do is shop and the craft store and make new things like wreaths or holiday crafts.

My grandaddy, Robert, plays an important part in my life, as he has been and still is my father figure. He has always been a part of my life and has made sure that I have had everything that I could ever need and often want. He isn't the kind of guy that likes to talk on the phone but we like to get together and chat about politics. He also likes to email back and forth with me. Grandaddy encourages me to reach higher, dream bigger. He is my motivator and I love him for that.

My best friend, Amber, is the last relationship that I am going to write about today. We have been friends for 14 years and have been through our ups and downs. She is my ultimate rant listener, no judgments ever. She is also my girly date go-to girl as we love manicures, pedicures, nice restaurants, and shopping; and the mother of my God daughter, Sophia. Keeping our relationship strong over the years has been hard as we have not lived in the same state for many years now. We try to visit each other whenever we are in the same home town for holidays and talk on the phone at least once a week. I think that the importance that each of us holds for the other, has kept our relationship going. We always set and keep our phone dates and never miss a chance to see each other. Our dedication to our relationship has really helped to keep it going. I also consider my relationship with Amber to be a partnership. Anything she needs, I'm there, and vice-versa. I would take care of her child as my own and I know that she would do the same for me when that day comes. I consider our relationship a partnership because we relate so much to each other, we're always on the same page.

The challenges that I have faced in maintaining relationships over the years seems to be location and the busyness of life. It is easy to get caught up in your own life and the day to day things that you are focused on, quickly forgetting to make time to call a family member or friend. This is something that I really had to learn how to balance when I moved away to college.
Another challenge that I, personally have faced with several people is compromise. As an only child, I wasn't very good at this at first. I had to learn, with help of my mother, that I have to compromise with other people, especially people that I care about, in order to maintain a good relationship.

I think that the relationships and partnerships that I have developed and maintained over the years will help me to be successful in the early childhood education field because they have all taught me something valuable. I've learned how to deal and compromise with people different from myself, how to support people, and how to easily relate myself to others. These are all traits that I feel are important when working with families.

Side note: I almost forgot to mention the relationship that I have with my fur-babies, Marley (right) and Millie (left). My pups do so much for me. They calm me down, cheer me up, make me laugh, motivate me to exercise, and most importantly, give unconditional love.  I love them dearly and yes...I am THAT doggie obsessed mom ;)