Relationship Reflection

Relationships and partnerships are important to me because they help me grow as a person. Every new person that has walked into my life has been someone that has inevitably left a mark, whether it was good or bad. But those interaction are what helped to form me into the person that I am today. It also helped me realize the kinds of people that I wanted to be surrounded by over time. The ones that make me feel better about being me and ones that make me confident versus those that tear me down every chance they get just because I don't fit their image.

My mom is a big proponent of people that make me feel good about myself. She helps me feel like I'm worth something even on days where I feel like I'm not. In typical mom fashion, she knows exactly when to lift me up so that I feel like I'm doing something good in the world rather than just adding to the population.

My best friend Meg also really helps me feel better about being me. I've had a rough go of things, especially in the last year. But Meg had made it easier to continue getting up every day even when there have been moments that I haven't wanted to. Talking to her has become daily routine and days that I don't feel strange. Even if it's only a quick few minute chat, it can turn a day that is otherwise terrible right around.

I suppose a lot of my friends actually fall into that category of 'making me feel good'. Each one makes me smile and makes me realize that my friend group is full of the people that I always want to be around.

My communication with each person really helps to keep up my relationships with them. Talking things out when something is wrong has really helped to make and maintain the healthy relationships, making sure that things don't fester and cause problems further down the line. I will say that lack of communication has been a huge reason many relationships of mine have fallen to the wayside. Or judgements that shouldn't really be part of the equation enter the picture and it causes problems further down the line. I don't think any of them really fall into the category of partnerships, however.

I think the fact that I've grown over the years and have become more open, more willing to go with the flow, makes it a lot easier to work in this field. Children don't follow set patterns and often have problems that we may not understand. Being able to change how you're reacting to each child during the day can help keep them safe, happy, and healthy. I also like to think that because I'm more open, it makes it easier to talk to the parents of the kids that I watch over each day. I'm more open to listening to them when it comes to suggestions they have or talking to them about problems we may have seen during the day. If you'd put the me of five years ago into this situation, I don't think I'd do half as well of a job as I do today.