I believe that relationships are important to me simply because they allow you to appropriately socialize, interact, and get to know people with similar and different backgrounds as myself. I love that I have the ability to create and get rid of healthy and harmful relationships. The difference between a relationship and a partnership is when you are in a relationship, you genuinely care about the individual and are interested in their well-being. When you are involved in a partnership, you don’t necessarily have to like the person or even get along well with the person. The idea of a partnership is to work toward a common goal with a person or group of people. The most important people in my life would have to be my husband, my daughter, my parents, my siblings, and my immediate family. They genuinely love me and support me no matter what. They also are very supportive of my relationships with my spouse, colleagues, etc., and want nothing but the best for all of my family members. I don’t know where I would be or what I would do without these important people in my life.
Each relationship I have with the family members listed above are all positive. The relationship I have with my husband is beyond extraordinary. We talk about everything and allow each other to be our true and genuine self. We laugh and cry together and the best part of it all is we can never stay mad at one another for too long. I knew he would be the man I would spend the rest of my life with 7 years ago. The relationship I have with my daughter is a loving and caring relationship. I encourage her to express her feelings and to be open with me and her father no matter what. I love my daughter to pieces and I am truly blessed to have had such a precious jewel five years ago. The relationship with my parents is also a very loving and supportive relationship. I know that I can depend on them no matter what happens and they will lend a helping hand without passing judgment or rubbing it in my face. They want happiness and success for all their children and grandchildren. I absolutely love the relationship I have with my siblings, especially my sister. We have so many sibling secrets that no one outside our circle will know about and we never pass judgment on any of our situations. They are all very supportive and are willing to bend over backwards whenever need be. We can be mad at one another one minute and fighting somebody who got smart with one of us the next minute.
Factors that contributed to developing and maintain these relationships are being able to trust one another, being supportive of one another, being genuine and true with one another, and being loyal to one another. If any of these factors are questioned at any time, there is sure to be a discussion to ensure everyone is on the same page. Some challenges I have encountered while establishing relationships was thinking everyone was genuine and had my best interest at heart. I dealt with a lot of heart ache and a lot of lost friendships because people would slowly show their true colors when I needed them the most. I am a firm believer that God put these people in my life, some for a reason and some just for a season. I hold on to those who were placed there for a reason and continue to be there for me. One characteristic I see in some of my relationships that could also be viewed as a partnership is all of us working toward the common goal of getting the youth in our family the best education possible so that they can become successful individuals. All of my relationships have that common goal and will continue to until the youth are adults and have chosen their careers.
My experience with relationships and partnerships, including my ability to be an active and reflective contributor, impact my work in the early childhood field in a positive manner. Because I am both active and reflective in almost all of my relationships/partnerships, I have found that I build rapport with more families and children more frequently. They become comfortable with me and share many personal stories about themselves. We are normally always able to come to a common goal and they are very receptive and provide excellent feedback. I use my gift of gab and my ability to build strong rapports to my advantage whenever children and families are a part of the equation.
shaylamitchell 