My Supports

            I feel blessed to have the supports that I do in my daily environment.  My family, especially husband and son, are always supporting me in whatever I do.  They reassure me that I can do things I think I cannot do.  In fact I am embarking on a new adventure:  learning how to ice skate.  I am terrified, but with their love and encouragement, I know I can get through it.  Please pray for me!  They love me whether or not I mess something up.  They are unconditionally supportive and loving.  Although my mom does not live near us, I talk to her everyday.  She is always there for me to lend an ear, encourage me, give me advice, etc.  I am also fortunate to have her as a financial support as well.  She helps us out when she can and I am forever grateful to her.

            I also have supports at work.  I work with a great group of people that support each other.  We have developed some good friendships and working relationships, which is extremely important.  I have worked in jobs where I did not get along with my co-workers.  It was hard going to work and fulfilling my responsibilities because I was miserable.  My job also supports my list habits and provides me with countless Post-It notes.  I would not be able to survive without my Post It notes.  Between them and my calendar, I would be lost and disorganized.

            Another daily support I have is religion.  Although I cannot see him, I always know that God is there for me.  I can count on Him to get me through anything.

            The benefits of these supports are that I am a better person.  I know I have people I can rely on when times are tough and will be there to celebrate with me when times are good.  I do not feel alone and I have a sense of belonging in this world.  I don’t know where I would be without my supports.  I feel I would be lost.  I can’t imagine not having my husband and son always pushing me and loving me.  Seeing their smiling faces gives me the strength I need.  I have been in jobs where I did not have supports and it was a horrible feeling.  I was miserable and couldn’t wait to find another job.  At times I dreaded work so bad that it would manifest into physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, etc.  This is something that I do not want to experience ever again.

            The challenge I chose to imagine was a physical one and imagined I was confined to a wheelchair.  (This could happen if ice-skating takes a bad turn.)  I would like to think I would be a strong person but I know I would still need my physical, practical, and emotional supports.  I would need people in my daily environment that could physically help with things that I couldn’t do such as get something from a high shelf or get to something that a wheelchair prevented me to get to.  Practically, I may need additional financial support from others.  The specialized equipment that is needed for people in wheelchairs is not cheap.  My husband’s uncle was confined to a wheel chair so I can attest to the fact that some equipment is expensive.  This challenge would probably increase the amount of emotional support I would need, especially if I was confined to a wheelchair after experiencing life without one.  It would be hard to see other people doing things you wanted to do and couldn’t do such as play certain sports.  Personally I know that it would be very hard on me not being to do things especially if I could do them before.  It might be different if I had always been in a wheelchair because in a way I wouldn’t know any better. 

            I believe the benefits of the supports would give me a better quality of life.  I would have people in my life to help when I need it, support me, and encourage me.  Likewise life would be difficult at times if I did not have these supports.  If I were by myself, it could be hard if I found myself in a situation where I needed additional help such as slipping in a bathroom and not able to get up.  I could see myself getting easily depressed if I had nobody on a daily basis to support me.  I wouldn’t be able to enjoy life because I would be so miserable thinking about all the things I couldn’t do anymore. 

            No matter what we are facing in life, we need people around us to support, encourage, and love us.  I can’t imagine being a child in this world without daily supports.

My Connections to Play

 “It is a happy talent to know how to play.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.”

Fred Rogers

            Play was my childhood.  I grew up in a rural community and the only neighbors I had were my family.  I grew up with my older cousin and I consider him my brother because we were so close.  We loved to play baseball in our grandparents’ front yard.  Their porch was first base, a tree was second, a bush was third, and a circle of dirt that we had created was home plate.  We also had a garden.  I loved helping “work” it.  I created many games in my head while weeding the garden and helping harvest it.  Some people would call it work but I loved every minute of it.  When the corn came in, I would race the adults to see who could shuck and fill up their bucket first.  When the weather was bad or when winter came, I did play more inside with my toys and board games.  My favorite thing to play with was puzzles.  I loved putting puzzles together.  My philosophy was the harder, the better.  To this day, I still love getting a challenging puzzle and trying to put it together.  My mother was a teacher so she highly encouraged my play.  My grandparents and other adults in my family also supported and encouraged my play.  They would play with me or allow me to play pretty much whatever I wanted.  I went through a phase that I was convinced I could find treasure and fossils in our yards.  They let me dig numerous holes one summer in my pursuit.  Sadly, I was unlucky in finding anything except an old fork. 

            I do think that play is similar in the fact that children still use their imagination and play with what they can find.  This was much of my childhood growing up.  However, I think the influence of technology has greatly altered play. I did not grow up with a television or video games.  We only got one channel on our TV and did not get cable until I was in the 8^th grade.  I think technology is limiting our children’s imagination, especially the imagination that is needed in pretend play.  Also, I am observing children having a harder time just creating play.  It is like the need directions or a goal before they start playing.  My hope is that children are allowed to play and use their imagination like I was able to do.  We cannot hide from technology but hopefully children are able to use it sparingly.  This of course depends on the parents.  As a parent, my son knows his screen time is limited each week.  The rest of the time, he is to play with his toys however he chooses.  I love to watch his creativity and imagination in action. 

            I am still a kid at heart and love to play.  My play has evolved as I have gotten older.  Play in adulthood for me revolves around the things I like to do in my down time such as reading.  I still love working puzzles.  I even turn housework into play.  I do this so I do not dread it as much and it helps get it done quicker.  Sadly between work and school, I do not get to “play” as much as I like.  However, I do get to play with my son a lot.  I encourage his play and fulfill whatever role he wants me to in his play.  I do believe that adults should play more.  I think the world would be a happier place if everyone took time to play.