The partnership I share with my husband, Stephen, and the relationship I have with my two daughters, Annalise and Audrey, are the most significant connections in my life.
Stephen listened to me through years of frustration at my former job, and urged me to question my motivations for working. He listened without judging. He was sincere in his concerns for my happiness, and insightful in the questions he asked. He gave me the chance to be self-reflective, without fear of judgment or ridicule. I trusted his sincerity, which encouraged me to talk more about my thoughts, feelings, and concerns. He showed me over and over that he was my partner, and not my critic. And because we were partners, I was less fearful to make changes to my career goal. The new goal I have set for myself, to become an early childhood educator, is meaningful and worthy to me. If such a change can come about in my life because of the support found in a partnering relationship, then I need to be mindful that meaningful and worthy change can come about if partnerships are established in the future with the parents of the children I hope to teach, and with my colleagues.
My children give me the courage to try and live my life authentically. I want them to know that when I ask them to help other people, or to be kind to others, or to be generous with their words and actions, that I am doing the same in all aspects of my life. They unconditionally trust me and my husband to guide them and to love them, and it is this innocence and trust that inspires me to be worthy of their love. I want to believe their trust is not misplaced, which is why I could no longer work at my former firm which motivated its employees with money and status. I asked myself that if I was teaching my daughters to devalue such things, than how could I continue in my professional pursuit of such things. The power of my children’s influence on me has been life-changing, and it is their relationship with me that has been, and will always be, the reason I am in the early childhood education field.
Allison,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE it!! Your husband sounds like he is very caring and sensitive to the situation that you were facing and was supportive in every aspect of the career change that you made! I can identify with you now in your current role as a stay-at-home mom, as I am one too! I am excited, as I'm sure you are too, to enter back into the working world when the time comes for my kids to go off to school knowing I'm making the difference in the lives of someone else's children. I love what you said about your children and living authentically! What an awesome challenge! I think you will find the field of early childhood so intrinsically rewarding, despite a drastic cut in pay from the corporate world (but the stay-at-home mom deal pays NOTHING so any pay would be a step up!!) that you will question why you ever worried about making the change in the first place! I enjoyed reading about your family and getting to know you a little better on a personal level!
Stacy :)
Thanks for you positive words, Stacy!
DeleteAllison
Allison,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing such a personal reflection. I loved reading the section about your husband because it reminded me so much of my fiance, Kenneth. He has been, and still is, so supportive of anything that I want to do, as long as I believe in it and myself. It is always nice to have someone to fall back on when times get tough. I know that there have been so many days where I am completely overwhelmed, and ready to explode, but Kenneth is always there. Also, I loved your statement, "If such a change can come about in my life because of the support found in a partnering relationship, then I need to be mindful that meaningful and worthy change can come about if partnerships are established in the future with the parents of the children I hope to teach, and with my colleagues" because it is so true!!! How can we, as professionals, teach and support children without forming a bond/partnership with their families? It just doesn't seem right.
Thank you again for sharing your post!
Andrea
Thanks for reading my post, Andrea!
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