My Supports

Without a doubt, my biggest support is my family. My husband and children have supported me in the good times and the not so good times. When I need a confidant, I can go to my husband and discuss things that I cannot with others. I have someone I can trust with the most sensitive kind of information. I can talk about my day when it did not go so well. Having this support helps with my stress and helps me to continue on.  

I had a job that was so stressful it started to impact my health. I needed to work because my husband had become ill and we really needed the money. I would go to work and cry because the environment was so toxic. I could not trust anyone; I could not talk to anyone; I could not be myself with anyone. It was the worst job I ever had. One day I was at home and my supervisor called me. She was yelling at me so loud, my husband could hear her from across the room. After she hung up the phone (after yelling for about 15 minutes) my husband to said to me, “Tomorrow you go in there and submit your resignation. We don’t need the money that bad to accept that type of abuse”. I said to him, “what are we going to do?” He said, “we’re gonna pray”. I would not have had the courage to do that without his support. I would have continued to work and probably ended up in the hospital. That is what having his support means.

You can never have too much support. Everybody needs somebody.

My Connections to Play

Playing was my way of escaping. We did not have a lot of money growing up, so I would play all kinds of imaginary games. Our parents encouraged us to play outside until the street lights came on. We had to be home by then. Children today play video games, use Snap Chat, Facebook, or any other technological device.

Growing up in my house there was there were not a lot of store bought toys. We did not have money for toys so we had to be creative. I look at the way children grow up now and I think I had it a bit better. You used your imagination; your brain. You had to add and subtract using a pencil and paper; not the Internet or Siri. Playing helped me to be creative and always looking for a solution. Play played an important part in my life; without being able to play I don't know what I would have done. It taught me how to express myself when I didn't have the words. I built friendships through play. I feel disappointed that children do not have the same opportunities that I had growing up.

Relationship Reflection

When I think about my relationships, I always think about God and my family. My husband is my best friend and sees me when I’m up and when I am down. He is there in the good times and the bad times. His support gets me through the bad times. I can talk to him about anything and everything. When things are not going so good (those times when we seem to not be on the same page) it has an effect on me. Everything else is off. God is what makes us stay together even during the hard times. Without my relationship with God, nothing else in my life matters. I pray for guidance and understanding. I pray for patience in stressful times. I pray for the ability to forgive when I have been done wrong. I pray that He makes me better each day than the day before.

Healthy relationship ingredients:

1.     Love without fear.

2.     Trust without wondering.

3.     Be there without restrictions.

4.     Accept someone without wanting them to change.

Communication and sharing between two people. Communication is based on honesty and trust. Talk and listen. Respect and trust. One has to learn to trust and respect the others in your life. Working through disagreements can make the relationship stronger.

Quote of the Day

Greetings,

I found these two quotes that I thought was an appropriate thought:

“Since the jobs that our preschoolers will do probably don’t exist yet, our priority is to teach them the skills to adapt and inquire and question and cooperate…life skills. So much more useful than rigid concepts such as the alphabet.” ~ Caroline Bellouse

“I keep trying to convey the pleasure every parent and teacher could feel while observing, appreciating and enjoying what the infant is doing. This attitude would change our educational climate from worry to joy. Can anybody argue about the benefits for a child who is appreciated and enjoyed for what she can do and does naturally? …I believe this issue is so basic, so important, that it cannot be overstated.” ~ Magda Gerber

                                                                          

Things are much more complicated today than they were when I was growing up. I believe a child’s mental health should be addressed to determine if a child has a healthy viewpoint of themselves. The emotional development of a child is as important as the other developmental stages of development. An African-American child can have low self-esteem due to negative stereotypes, economic disadvantages, and being unattractive (Crocker & Major, 1989). In Africa, a very small percentage of children have access to early child development programs. Although many studies have shown that early childhood development programs make a positive difference in the intellectual, social, physical, and emotional development the government and policy makers do not see how the benefits of these types of programs justify the costs (Jaramillo, 2001).

“We know the adult we want the child to become; we know the world in which the adult must live and work. The challenge is to produce the adult to fit into that world, in the most cost-effective way – and with the help of scientific knowledge-as-regulation the challenge can be met” (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005).

I believe these early interventions will not only improve the immediate well-being of young children, but may manifest themselves at later stages in their lives with both social and economic benefits for the individual, his family, and society.

Crocker, J., & Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of

stigma. Psychological review, 96(4), 608.

Dahlberg, G. and Moss, P. (2005) Ethics and politics in early childhood education. London, UK:

Routledge Palmer.

Evans, J., Myers, R. G., & Ilfeld, E. (2000). Early childhood counts: A programming guide on

early childhood care for development. Washington, DC.: World Bank.  

Jaramillo, A., & Tietjen, K. (2001). Africa Region Human Development. Human Development.

Mvula, A. F. (2014). Experiences and perspectives of Children and Staff on Play, Learning,

Health care and Program Implementation. A qualitative study of an ECCD Program in Urban Zambia.

I recall growing up in the 1960’s with very little money and resources. My mother on had a 10^th grade education and my father changed jobs like the weather. He did not hold onto a job very long; for reasons I did not understand. Having six brothers and sisters, it was very difficult for my parents to provide the basics – food, clothing, and shelter. I always wore my older sister’s hand-me-downs. We ate free breakfast and lunch at school. Some days that was all we ate. There were a few times when there was no dinner. Of course school was hard. I was teased a lot in school because my clothes were tattered and worn. I was very shy and withdrawn and did not have many friends. No one wanted to be friends with the little poor kids. It was very tough and I remember thinking I really don’t want to go to school.

There was on teacher that took a special interest in me. I was always smart and got good grades. She could see that my family did not have a lot of money but she helped me see how smart I was and all that I could achieve with a good education. So, I threw myself into my studies. That was the one thing I could control. I wanted to make sure I provided a better life for myself and my children.

Education has afforded me opportunities that I am very grateful for. Oprah Winfrey opened up a school in South Africa for girls because of her humble beginnings. She knew that a good education could empower girls in an impoverished country to become leaders of tomorrow. Across Africa, 28 million girls between the ages of about 6 and 15 are not in school and many will never be able to enter a classroom (Global Education Report, 2015).

In some parts of South Africa, girls live in very violent situations where extremists try to destroy their lives and their families and communities. These condition force girls to give up their dream of getting an education; forcing them to live in severe poverty. In South Africa, poverty is the biggest barrier for a girl getting an education. Education is the way out for those girls in South Africa just as it was for me. I do not pretend that my battle with poverty compares to the girls in South Africa. However, as a little girl it was that bad.

Global Education Report. (2015). No girl left behind – Education in Africa. Retrieved from

https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/no-girl-left-behind-education-in-africa/.

Flint Water Crisis Continued

The Flint Water crisis has been in the news for the past few years. Being a Flint resident, I know first-hand what living without clean water is about. I have grandchildren who come to my house on a regular basis. Five of my six grandchildren are under the age of 10. The anxiety we felt when the news broke about the lead in the water and how many children had been impacted was too much for a grandparent. To think that I could have poisoned my grandchildren was too much too bare.

Here is a link to a USA article that shows that lead contaminated water is not just in the Flint area.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/03/17/drinking-water-lead-schools-day-cares/81220916/

I work with college students who have young children. Part of our campus has been converted to a water distribution site. I work with the students to help them get connected to resources to help with their young children. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha was the first to make reports about the elevated lead levels and she does not know what the lasting effects of the lead poisoning. This is one of the reasons that I elected to get more training in early childhood education.

#FlintWaterCrisis: Our children are paying the price

A five-year old boy reacts as his mother tries to comfort him while
having his blood drawn to be tested for lead in Flint, MI.
Photo: Bryan Mitchell for The Guardian

The water in Flint, Michigan became contaminated with lead in April 2014. The officials changed from the Detroit water to the Flint River. This was done as a way to save money until the new pipeline for Lake Huron was completed. No one really knows what the long-term effects will be for those children who were exposed to lead contaminated water for over two years.  

Find Your Voice

I listened to others until I finally found my own voice. I too have something to say. Find your voice so that you can impart into people something that will impact their lives forever. 

- Dr. Delores