Personal Childhood Web

This past week’s lesson has helped in my development as I pursue my passion of becoming an Early Childhood Administrator. It has shown me how everyone has to help in the development of the child in an effort to promote a nurturing environment. When I think about my own childhood and the people who showed me love, guidance, and wisdom, I have 5 family members that really helped in my child rearing and even help me become the person I am today.

My mother inspires me through her actions of kindness, acts of love, and devotion to our needs & desires. She is a model of true leadership and determination and lives to serve others. I would not be the woman I am today without her in my life. A quote growing up that she always told my sisters and me, “good manners can take you places that won’t”. Not only do I live by that today, my husband and I are teaching our children, about manners and respect of yourself and others. Today, my mother and I are close friends who give each other great advice.

My aunt, Emma, was an aunt that had a hand in our child rearing once my parents were divorced. She was the person that was always there to help out when my mom needed an extra pair of hands. She was the cool Aunt, that everyone always wanted to be around, having her in my life was special because she always told my sisters and I that we were the best of the best, she told us that we wanted to be the person who stood out above the rest, almost like a giraffe, which she still uses this example in her life today, as our relationship has become full circle, now that I am an adult, I look up to her as a big sister and she is actually the person that introduced me to the Early Childhood field, as she has been an ECE for over 25 years and very successful, as I hope to carry on in her footsteps.

My grandmother, our bond is so great it at times surpasses that of my relationship with my mother. As she taught me how important it was to be independent and be able to stand on your own. Based off of situations in her life and even in my mother’s life, my grandmother always told me to go above and beyond because you only get one life and to not let anyone or anything take your “joy “away from you. She was also a stickler about saving money, as this is the piece of advice I wish I would have listened more too today (student loans..ugh). Today, my relationship with her is that of a woman my own age as she is dating now and seeks my advice about modern day relationships, we talk about everything and she truly is a great friend.

My sisters, my relationship is interesting with my sisters as I have become more of a mother to them than an older sister. My sister Brittany and I are barely two years apart, so we are more close than the others, as we both have families now and learn more about life in regards to our children together and growing up I used to take up for her and now I found out that our older children have the same relationship that we had as children except they are boys. My other two sisters Gabrielle and Justine, are the exact opposite, as I am 7 and 11 years older than the two of them, as I can truly say that I come off as a second mother to them, but I mention my sisters as people who have shaped and inspired my life for one reason, because only one thing comes to mind when I am bonding with my sisters both individually and as a group, that I remain a Christian woman who inspired and encouraged others by what she did, not just by what she said.

My church family, there were several different people throughout my years of attending my home church as a teenager, that I feel shaped and inspired my adulthood and the person I am today, my pastor would always take about success, failures, and triumph growing up, back then I did not realize how important it would become to help me more in my life today , rather back then, my pastor would say, that young people must realize that failure, losses, and disappointments are a part of life experiences.  It’s not the fact that one looses but how one deals with those setbacks.  I learned early in my life that you must make it a priority to learn when you lose however success and triumph comes in many different forms and at different times in a person’s life. However, significant success occurs when an individual makes a positive impact on someone’s life.