MY SUPPORTS

Blog Assignment

My Supports

Having checked the Webster’s New World College Dictionary (Fourth Edition) for the meaning of support, I have chosen the following meanings to write about “My Supports.” Support means to carry or bear the weight of, keep from falling, slipping or sinking, hold up, to carry or bear, to give courage, faith or confidence, a person or thing that supports and a means of subsistence.

My family is my first leg of support, and my husband bears the weight of the support that I need especially in the area of driving. Yes, I have learned to drive, yes I have a driver’s license but I do not like driving. I pray for him every day that he will always be there to be my support. I do hope that I will get over this fear of driving one day. In the meantime I love to travel on the train and the bus although I know that these may not be the safest way to travel all the time.

My daughter is my next line of support with anything that is technologically challenging for me. Hence, whenever I ask for help in navigating the computer, I have to be prepared for the lecture on how to use the computer without asking for so much help. Although I am learning –slowly but surely, I certainly would not want to lose my family members at all. These are people in my life not only for the support that they can give, but they are special because they are a part of your life force.

I have certainly built up a network of support at my workplace to help me with knowing how to do cope with the stresses of the work environment. These are persons with whom you laugh when the going gets rough to meet deadlines, when photocopying is to be done and the bulletin board is to be decorated and there is no one to climb up on the ladder to help you and here comes one of them to your assistance. Thank God for good friends and coworkers who will “keep you from falling” both literally and figuratively. I believe that I cherish these people in my life. There is a saying that I have learned from a child that I am willing to share here about friends/good support. It states: “Good friends are better than pocket money.” I believe this to be so true because the money cannot provide all the time the kind of emotional/social support that you need from people.

The challenge that I am scared to think about that I do not have at this time is that of being confined to a wheel chair and being blind. I know that physically I would want people who care about me to be there. I would especially want the emotional support of my two daughters and my granddaughter and practically I would want to learn how to support myself with probably my own precious dog and wheel chair to give some semblance of independence.

In writing this blog, it has really hit home hard to my heart how important it is truly value everyone and everything that has been my support in life and I pause at this time to give God thanks for even the tiniest hug from one of my students.

Childhood Connections to Play

Play has always been an integral part of our lives in the Caribbean. Whether it is playing cricket, football (or soccer as it is called in the United States of America), dominoes, checkers, running, dancing, biking, skipping, jumping, swimming in the rivers, going to the beach, climbing the mango  trees, breadfruit  trees or ackee trees- play time has always been preserved and sacred to us.
Quotes on play that summarized what play represented to me during my childhood:

Swing

“In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.”- Friedrich Nietzsche (German classical Scholar, Philosopher and Critic of Culture, 1844-1900).
“Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it.”- Eileen Caddy quotes.
“Play needs direction as well as work.”- Elbert Hubbard quotes (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)
“The true object of all human life is play.” G.K. Chesterton quotes (English born Gabonese critic, essayist, novelist and poet, 1874-1936).

1960's Dolls

Throughout my childhood, I can remember that play was supported by both my parents. I did not go to preparatory school until I was nearly seven years of age as during the 1960’s that was the time most children started school in the Caribbean. Therefore, most of my playtime was spent at home supervised by my mother who stayed at home with us. My father was the one who made our swing and see-saw for my four brothers, my sister and I. We also played with dolls and toy trucks that my brothers creatively made from milk/juice cartons and other cardboard boxes. As I continue to travel back in time, I cannot forget our hopscotch games that we carved out in the earth and our marble games that helped us to count, because we were serious about keeping an idea on how many beautiful marbles that we had collected. Our one-two-three-red light games and in –the-river-on-the-bank games filled our hearts with delight , kept us alert, focused and energized because nobody wanted to be out of the game.

Marbles

 Play has changed dramatically since I was a child. Today, play is associated with sitting down and watching television shows, playing video games, and sitting at the computer for long hours playing games and watching videos that takes away the creativity of the child. Unfortunately, I believe that our young children are missing out on a great deal of fun which play offers as a result of the lifestyle they are forced to live especially in the cities. That is why we cannot afford to neglect play. As early childhood educators, we have to try to engage our students in more natural play of an exploratory nature, such as hiking, nature walks, museum visits and farm visits. These kinds of play activities will open up creative questionings among other things.




I believe that we cannot let play die. When we go outside to play, we see how our children are revitalized when they swing, slide, climb the monkey bars or ride the stationary horse. The pictures interspersed throughout the blog are representations of the things that delighted us as children when we played.

Toy Truck

Throughout life, play helps us to organize our thoughts and relieve stress. I believe that a society that does not value play is destroying its life forces, sapping its vitality and will eventually have its creativity buried. Therefore, let us keep play alive for our children’s sake, our sake and for the sake of humanity that is so burnt out with stress, obesity and other health-related issues.