My Connections to Play

 

 

 
Here are some really awesome quotes about play:

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."  Plato




"I dream of a day when we say, "Today everyone played so hard!"" Lisa Murphy, the Ooey Gooey Lady

"If animals play, this is because play is useful in the struggle for survival; because play practices and so perfects the skills needed in adult life."  Susanna Miller, EdD

Most of the adults in my life encouraged me to be outside and to be active.  My parents let me play t-ball, join girl scouts, powder puff football.  I loved playing dodge ball and red rover and being outside.  I remember my Barbie townhouse that was 3 stories high with an elevator and spent many hours playing with it.  My favorite thing on the playground was this HUGE (it was back then anyway) tractor tire.  It laid on the ground and when we played hide and seek, we fought over who would hide in it - the first placed "it" would look (hahaha).  My parents always took us camping and we stayed on our bikes riding everywhere and exploring everything.  During middle and high school, I was always at girl scout camp for 3-4 weeks as a camper, then as a counselor.  During my junior year, I became a lifeguard and started teaching swimming lessons.  I could never have done these things without the support and permission of my parents and the other adults who worked with these activities.

I feel that play today has changed dramatically from the time I was young.  The technology was not available to watch television, movies, and play video games on phones, I-pads, Kindles,  etc.  We were able to be outside from daylight to dark without fear of predators.  We also knew if we did anything we should not be doing, our parents would find out by other adults.  So we actually learned self-governance to keep us from getting into trouble (or learned to be really sneaky if we wanted to go to that much trouble).  Children today have way too many things to keep them sedentary.  Also, parents are content to keep them close for a number of reasons:  wary of predators, too busy to do things with them, too lazy to do things, etc. 

Parents and other caring adults have to make play important for the whole family.  Being active and playing is part of a healthy lifestyle.  Adults must realize the importance of play and physical activity for the healthy development of their children and future generations.

Relationship Reflection

The relationships that I have had through the years have made me who I am.  I wouldn't trade them for anything. However, over the past several years I have realized it is not the quantity of friends but the quality.  Positive relationships bring out the best in all of us and there is so much negativity in the world, we need to keep positive people around us all the time.

My mother is one of those positive people.  She is a rock and I love and depend on her so much.  She has been with me through it all.  She opened our center 41 years ago and at age 74 is still working, training, and going strong.  I hope that I have it in me at that age.  She is a spiritual woman and taught me about God and going to church.  She taught me the value of an education and has supported me when everyone else said I was crazy going back to school.  She has kept our family together and will be celebrating 50 years with my father in June.  I love them so very much.  God has blessed me with wonderful parents.

My heart, my love, my little boy, Max.  A child is God's gift to us and He really gave me a fantastic gift.  I am so very fortunate to be able to help raise this child of God for the time he is on this Earth.  We found out 2 weeks ago that I have a genius who is severely ADHD.  The doctor asked me how this made me feel.  I said it scared me to death.  I don't want him on meds, but I want what is best for him.  This has been a great burden for me for several months.  We will begin meds at the end of March.  I'm praying it doesn't change his bubbly personality, but he seems very relieved to know that he will have help to ease his frustration.

Cindy Myers is my most awesome friend.  We stood by each other when our husbands were in jail (not together).  But it wasn't until she had her daughter and I got pregnant with Max that our friendship really blossomed into full blown love for each other.  We raised our kids, went through sicknesses, stuck together when one husband came home.  She moved with her husband and kids to Kentucky 3 years ago, and only see each other once a year.  But we have that telepathy thing going - when you know one needs the other without talking.  We miss each other and our kids do too, but when we get together it's like we've always been. 

My best friend would have to be my husband.  He would also be the quality I look for in a relationship.  He is the giver; I tend to be the taker lately.  I'm so wrapped up in work and school, I forget about his needs a lot.  He hardly ever gets mad about it; he just reminds me to shut the computer off and take a break.  We support each other and depend on each other. We enjoy just spending time with each other.  He knows me so much better that I know myself half the time.  It is a special feeling to have someone love  you so much!

The best relationship I have is the one with my Holy Father.  He has blessed me beyond belief.  I give thanks to Him for all He has given me.  Without Him, this whole life would be meaningless. 

Children are the most important things that we can do with our lives.  They depend on us to nourish them, teach them, spend quality time with them, mentor them, and model our lives for them.  If we don't show them how relationships are supposed to be then how will they know about relationships at all?  It is our responsibility to partner with parents and family members to raise our children in positive, respectful relationships and environments.  We cannot afford to be irresponsible in this very important endeavor in our children's lives.  The benefits of parental engagement with teachers far surpasses the uncomfortability of becoming involved with people we "think we don't like."  We need to put aside any biases we have and come together to raise our children to be respectful engaging adults who are not afraid of relationships with people who are different from them. 

Thank you! to my colleagues at Walden University

"The way parents are with children is how children will be with the rest of the world."  Dr. Karl Menninger, American Psychiatrist

"If we are serious about providing upward mobility and building a skilled workforce, pre-school is the play to begin."  Madeleine M. Kunin - 1st female governor of Vermont

To all my colleagues, I want to thank you all for the support and encouragement you bestowed upon me the last several weeks.  Wasn't this course amazing?!  We learned so much to use with our children and to mentor other early childhood people.  I wish you success on your continued journey of higher education at Walden University.  I hope that our paths will cross again soon.
Thanks!

Childhood Testing

I believe that children need to be tested; but the test should not be the most important thing in the child's education, meaning some school literally “teach for the test.” Children need comprehensive learning; they need a blanket assessment; but I don't feel that money needs to be tied to it. Some schools spend the whole school year teaching the items that will be on the standardized test, so the school will perform well, get good marks, and thus get better funding. Children need to know how to take a test, but they also need to know how to make change. They DO NOT need to have politics shoved down their throats. They need to understand how the real world works, without all of their morals and ethics, engrained since birth being degraded, dehumanized, and told how wrong it is.

I fully believe that aptitude test, IQ tests, and such, accomplish what the teacher needs to be able to teach the whole student. However, that teacher is so bogged down with redundant paperwork and extra work that she does not have time to serve each child's learning style. Let's face it, teachers take so much work home with them now, they have very little time with their own children.

In Russia, education for preschool through tenth grade is mandatory and is free. All other schools available, such as vocational and professional schools are partially fee based. Russia has instituted Standardized Testing called EGE (similar to SAT) for all children. Those children with the highest scores are the ones that get to go to university free. Others may apply, and is fee-based at approximately $2000-$8000 per year and $1500-$5000 for additional cost like books, board, and other fees.

School exclude children with disabilities, mental and behavior problems, deviant behavior, migrant workers, and refugees. Legislation puts all of these children into boarding schools when they can find them. About 100,000 children are in institutions and do not have education appropriate for their age. 4.5% of all Russian children have disabilities and most attend no regular educational institutions.

Children's Rights: Russian Federation. (2014). Child Rights. Retrieved February 15, 2014 from http://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/russia.php

Natural Disasters

I chose natural disasters to talk about. I went through Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I was in Hattiesburg, MS.  As scary as it was, we did not have the storm surge, flooding, and devastation that was in Louisiana and on the gulf coast of Mississippi. However, here are some facts about Katrina. Over 1,836 people died, 750 missing, and millions homeless. There was looting, violence, no water or food for many days and no electricity for weeks. Help arrived after a time. FEMA trailers arrived – poor as they were.

In November 2013, a typhoon hit the Philippines. 6,166 people were killed and 28,626 were injured. 1785 are still missing and 4 million people were forced from their homes. They have no electricity, no running water or clean water for that matter, and no shelter. There is scant corrupt government housing. Only 9% of the 16 million affected have received any help to rebuild their homes.

There is absolutely no way that a child going through such devastation of the environment and family can not be affected. Such stress will affect the brain development, and improper nutritional intake will affect the body and brain. Children are resilient and their little brains and bodies will bounce back. But what of their emotions? I often wondered how those children are faring 8 years later. Are they back in their home city; did they stay away when they evacuated; was the family able to rebuild or recoup their losses from the storm; and did they get to a place where they are able to feel safe again? In the Philippines, how long will it take for their children to feel safe? to get into a home that has a roof instead of an umbrella and palm leaves? when will they get clean water to drink?

Time heals all wounds and people tend to forget about what is happening in the world once the media has left the area. But the people living the life will never forget. And it will take many years to recover and rebuild the cities. How long does it take the children to bounce back after such a horrible life event they will never forget. How long does it take for the body and brain to catch up once it takes a break and just concentrates on survival?

Harlan, C. (2014). After Typhoon, Philippines faces one of the most profound resettlement crises in decades. Retrieved February 1, 2014 from

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/after-typhoon-philippines-faces-one-of-the-most-profound-resettlement-crises-in-decades/2014/01/04/2118c6a2-71f2-11e3-bc6b-712d770c3715_story.html

Solanki, P. (2013). Hurricane Katrina: Facts and Information. Retrieved February 1, 2014 from

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hurricane-katrina-facts-and-information.html

UPI. (2014). Typhoon Death Toll Reaches 6,166 in Philippines. Retrieved February 1, 2014 from

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/01/03/Typhoon-death-toll-reaches-6166-in-Philippines/UPI-86661388773610/

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Around the World

SIDS is called crib-death in North America and cot-death in England. SIDS is when an infant goes to sleep and never wakes up. No one knows the reason for this feared family tragedy. Research has been done to test theories of this mystery.

Susan Beal studied every SIDS death in South Australia seeking any and all circumstances and found some interesting commonalities. The mother's smoking and lambskin blankets seemed to be a couple of commonalities. She also found genetic make-up of Chinese descent helped to ward off SIDS. Chinese babies always slept on their backs, while European babies slept on their stomachs. Susan developed a hypothesis that sleeping on the back would decrease the risk. She had a large group of non-Chinese people all put their babies to sleep on their backs. Almost none died(Berger, 2012).

Pediatricians in the Netherlands began telling parents to put babies to sleep on their backs. In Holland, 2 scientists began recommending back-sleeping and SIDS was reduced by 40% in one year(Berger, 2012).

Some things you may not know about SIDS:

SIDS deaths have declined by more than half in every country since 1990 when the “Back to Sleep” Campaign was initiated (SIDScenter.org).

The instances of SIDS is equal in girl and boy infant deaths.

There are no symptoms or warning signs.

Doctors think one cause is the inability for the baby's body to detect a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood(A.D.A.M., 2011).

Some doctors think the baby has problems with its' ability to wake up.

Approximately 2 infants out of 1,000 will die from SIDS(RightDiagnosis, 2011).

Always keep baby's head uncovered while sleeping(Disability online, 2000).

The following are linked to increased risk of SIDS(A.D.A.M., 2011):

Stomach sleeping

Smoking environment

Co-sleeping (sleeping in the same bed as parents)

Soft bedding

Premature births

Siblings who had SIDS

Mothers who smoke

Late or no prenatal care

Poverty situations

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommend the following(A.D.A.M., 2011):

ALWAYS sleep on back

Breastfeed when possible

Offer a pacifier when going to sleep

Put baby to sleep in same room NOT in same bed

Have tight-fitting mattress cover and avoid thick, soft blankets

Keep temperature cool. Do NOT overheat baby

Support Groups for victims of SIDS(Sidscenter.org):

www.sids.org

www.sidscenter.org

This topic has always interested me, especially when I became a new mom.  My husband had a child from a previous marriage die from SIDS. So I was very conscious about the issue and what not to do.  I don't believe that I slept through the night until my son was 10 months old.  He would stop breathing sometimes 10 times a night.  The doctor said "don't worry about it until he stops for 10 seconds or more.  Babies just forget to breathe."  Really?!?  I worried more then.  I had a co-sleeper brand bed that butted up to the side of the bed and I slept across the width of the bed so I could rest my hand on him.  There were many nights I had to wake him.  One night in particular I remember putting my hand on his chest and there was nothing.  I waited a few seconds then I grabbed him up.  It scared him into breathing.  I cry just remembering that time.  I did all of the right things to avoid SIDS and the only increased risk was the sibling with SIDS.  I was lucky; I cannot imagine losing a child to SIDS.

References:

A.D.A.M. Medical Encylopedia. (2011). Retrieved January 18, 2014 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002533/

Berger, K. (2012). The Developing Person Through Childhood. New York, NY. Worth Publishers.

Disability Online. (2000). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Statistics. Retrieved January 18, 2014 from http://hnb.dhs.vic.gov.au/dsonline/dsarticles.nsf/pages/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome_statistics

National SUID/SIDS Resource Center. (2011). Statistics of SUID and SIDS. Retrieved Janaury 18, 2014 from http://www.sidscenter.org/Statistics_OLD.html

Right Diagnosis.com. (2011). Statistics about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Retrieved January 18, 2014 from http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/s/sids/stats-country.htm

A mother's health impacts the health of her child.

Just as everyone does, I call my child my miracle. I was told at 34 that if I was not pregnant by 35, it was going to happen. So I quit worry about and raised everyone else's babies. At 38, I found out I was going to have a baby. I was so excited – but I was so worried that something would happen, I didn't by anything for the baby until my 9^th month.

I was already at 287 pounds (I only gained 13 lbs total) so I really had to watch everything I put into my mouth. I began eating lots of fruits and vegetables and lots of grape juice (the only thing I craved). I ate NO McDonald's or fast food of any kind and only allowed myself a sweet tea and baked potato on Fridays (if I had been good). I took my prenatal vitamins and drank my milk and LOTS of water (the only thing to curb the nausea). I was doing great, had lots of energy, and was really enjoying being pregnant.

Then a little storm called Katrina hit. Everything went crazy. I was at home alone watching the ceiling cave in and the trees fall all around me. Once the storm passed, I was stranded until someone could come cut trees. There was no electricity and no water; and it was so hot! 89 degrees at midnight is not the comfort we have become accustomed to. We had sleep on the tile floor just to keep cool. My young nephew (2 years old) and I began to dehydrate, so the family set out on a road trip. It took three days of rest and water for either of us to get better. The electricity came back on at our house after day six, so we went home.

At that time, I had two childcare centers across the street from each other with about 65 children total. One of the centers was totaled by two pine trees and flooding. We hurriedly removed contents to keep them from ruining all the while without power and water. Restaurants that cooked with gas gave food away. Our center cooked for parents to come pick up food for their children. This was a horrific ordeal and one that I personally never want to repeat and we were not in New Orleans or on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (we were one and a quarter hours up the highway from Gulfport, Mississippi in Hattiesburg).  We reopened only one building after 10 days and had to use every nook and cranny we could to house the children until other arrangements could be made.

Once power and water was restored, doctor's appointments resumed. I now had high blood pressure, hypertension, and had to do a non-stress test every week for the next 10 weeks. I'm so glad that I had been doing well with my diet because now I had to take 1500 mg of blood pressure meds everyday. I ended up working about 11 hrs a day because staff left due to the storm and never came back.  I still continued my nutritious eating plan and really stuck to it now.  I didn't want anything to happen to my little one.

At week 37, I ended beginning to swell and the doctor's induced that week. After 4 hours of hard labor that I don't remember because they kept me on pain meds because of the blood pressure, the doctor decided to do a C-section at 10:45pm. I had a beautiful, healthy, perfect little boy with a head full of brown hair that weighed in at 8lbs 7oz. He's eight now, still healthy and beautiful and not so perfect. But he's my miracle.

I have often wondered about those women in New Orleans who were pregnant. They were actually stranded and could not get out of the city as it flooded. We all saw pictures of people standing on the caved in bridges waiting for help and trying to stay on high ground. We've heard of so many people that were lost due to this storm. The city was out of commission for weeks. How would she have gotten emergency care for her and her baby? Water? Food of any kind, not necessarily nutritious? While we are pregnant we really don't like to think about bad stuff, do we?

This situation has me thinking about the women in Somalia. 1 in 10 Somali children die before their first birthday; 1 in 5 die before their 5^th birthday. Somalia has 250 trained doctors, 860 nurses, and 116 midwives for the whole population of 9 million. Only one-third of pregnant women have skilled health care at the birth and one-fourth only receive prenatal care one time with just 6% receiving prenatal care four times (PeaceWomen.org). This is the main reason the mortality rate is so high. Many have been driven from their homes to live in unsanitary conditions at refugee camps where they are not even able to get clean water to drink or bathe.

As a mother and a caring human being, I cannot even begin to imagine a situation as sad as Somalia.

PeaceWomen.org. (2010). Somalia: Pregnant Women Need More Care. Retrieved January 11, 2014 from http://www.peacewomen.org/news_article.php?id=2612&type=news