Relationship Reflection

Happy Saturday everyone :)

I intentionally chose to wait until today to write my blog because of the nature of today's discussion topic and blog.

This week we spoke on relationships and partnerships within the earlychildhood profession. I have still relatively new to the early childhood profession and have adjusted quite well. However, the knowledge of the importance of creating and maintaining healthy relationships is something I never truly understood or necessarily considered until I became a pre-school/toddler teacher.

As an educator, of course I always aimed to have an amazing rapport and relationship with both my students and parents. However, it was not until I entered early childhood that I realized that the impact of these relationships shape the overall development of a child in more ways that I previously thought.

So, it is only befitting to reflect on my relationships and how I have developed from them over the years. I initially wanted to do my mother and my father-figure, my uncle; but decided against it because of ywo things. 1) I felt it was a bit typical and cliche and 2) The past 2 1/2 years of my life I have developed and prospered more as a woman and as a person courtesy of two amazing souls.

My Fiancee, Husband-to-be on September 3rd,2017- Stephan Dilworth

I love this man to the moon and back. He is literally my foundation and my solace. Met him back in Jan 2015 and been inseparable since. He is the yin to my yang. I am a fiery, hot tempered, impulsive soul and he is a kind, gentle, level-headed spirit that balances my fire with his coolness of encompassing my entire being into tranquility. (fun fact: he is a earth sign and I'm a fire sign)

We have a relationship that is of course romantic but also friendship. We help build each other up, encourage one another, and find the best in each other while acknowledging our worst flaws as imperfect perfections. He balances me and I balance him- both using our unique strengths to overcome our weaknesses.

We also maintain a partnership. An example would be for our home life. My hubby only has a high school diploma and I am obtaining my Masters. I am the primary breadwinner but know that my man is the hesd if our home. I make the most but what I make goes towards savings and expenses such as date night excusrions and vacations, etc.; my hunny would spend every dime of his check to maintain our home.

In other words, he is the foundation that holds our house afloat and I maintain what goes in it. Our partnership allows for us to feed off our relationship skills of communication, understanding, and patience.

My Hubby and I :)

 Last person that has helped how I view and grown with relationships and partnerships is my son, my angel, my rock- Isaac Henry Taylor Dilworth

Today is actually his birthday (which is why I chose today to write the blog).

My son would have made one years old today. He was born at 24+6 weeks on May 20th, 2016 at 9:49pm. My son lived on this earth for ten days and passed away May 30th, 2016, on Memorial Day.

My son taught me a lesson in ten days that some people take a lifetime to learn. Long story short, my son passed away due to contracting E Coli from my digestive tract during utero. It was revealed I have ESBL and the next time I become pregnant, I have to be on antibiotics to protect my child.

My relationship with my son taught me how to be a blessing to others and how to truly love another human being. Of course we love our spouses and parents, but we rarely experience a love where our life's mission and purpose becomes entrenched into making another person (or people) happy. I experienced that with my son and through that relationship, I decided to go into early childhood education and begin to form my non-profit that helps at-risk mother's have equitable resources to a healthy, viable pregnancy- Isaac's Purpose.

Through these relationships, I have learned valuable tools of communication and understanding that I take into my own professional life inside my classroom with my students and their families while also using it personally, to better myself and how I interact with loved ones.

Your daily interactions with your students and their parents leave a lasting imprint on their spirit as to your personality and who you are as a human being. Being conscious of our daily interactions with our youth and their families is a great way to start and be mindful of how important it is to build and maintain healthy relationships within our profession.


              My son, my pride and joy- Isaac