Relationship Reflection 

As I reflect on my relationships and partnerships with different people in my life, I realize that I, for the most part, I keep my professional life and those partnerships separate from the relationships in my personal life.   

In my professional life, I have close friendships with two co-workers that extend outside of school.  A shared trust has developed between us from years of working together and a close friendship has grown, as well.  We have supported each other through the births of one’s children and the ending of one’s marriage.  However, this type of relationship is not what I have with most of my co-workers.  With the majority of my co-workers, I have a partnership based on shared experiences within the school, shared goals, and a shared workspace.  We help each other out with materials, students, paperwork, and duties.  There is a friendship there, but it is based on a working partnership.  As I think about the relationship that I have with these two co-workers as opposed to the partnership I have with the others, I think I would sum it up as follows:  In a partnership, the expectation of the “give and take” is a 50-50 split, or 60-40 at times.  However, in a relationship, the percentage is constantly changing depending on the needs of the individuals.  The people in the relationship understand this and adjust accordingly.

My closest relationships are with my immediate family and a small group of close-knit friends.  These relationships are important to me because they keep me balanced and centered in my life.  They are the people that I trust the most and who support me unconditionally, and they feel the same way towards me.  The challenges that I face in maintaining these relationships is that only my closest friends live in the same state as me.  Outside of my children, my immediate family lives in other states.  That can be difficult.  Luckily, we often talk on the phone to stay in touch and that helps to maintain the relationships.

I think that my experiences with relationships/partnerships have impacted my work as an effective early childhood professional, in that it has helped me to be more open and understanding to other people’s needs.  It has helped me to become a better listener.  From my personal experiences, I have learned that sometimes people just need/want someone to listen to them.  I try to carry that over into my partnerships with parents.