Thank you

I would like to say thank you to all my colleagues so far in the early childhood studies program at Walden University. It has helped me reach weekly goals, stay focused and try my hardest knowing that you all are out there doing the same thing. It is not easy balancing work, school and family, but knowing that I am not alone helped tremendously. I have learned so much already from reading all your discussion posts and blogs that I am sad that some of us will be parting ways. But I am also happy that we are about to enter into our focused areas. It is hard to believe that soon all the hard work will pay off!

Good luck finishing the program and thank you for all your support and help learning the material.

Saying Good-Bye to a Group

Reflecting on the groups that I have been a part of over the years, I realize that I have met a lot of people and developed friendships with many people that I began working in a group with. Working in a close group involves developing trust and respect for each other. it can be rewarding and challenging at the same time. The more active a role I played in the groups the more difficult it was to say good-bye at the end. The more involved I am, the more devoted and meaningful the experience. Sometimes the groups close after a big event or accomplishment, meeting one more time to reflect on successes and areas for improvement. Sometimes groups just end as the work ends without any pat on the back as a whole, but personal reflection and celebration is still important. For example, I appreciate all of my colleagues in the early childhood studies program but our ending celebrations will probably be with personal family and friends. I am planning to do something special with my family that is relaxing!

The final stage of a group, adjourning, is important for many reasons. It is very important to reflect on your work in order to identify ways to improve int he future and remember to repeat things that worked well. It is also very important to say thank you and appreciate the people you work with.

Handling Conflict

Currently, my husband and I disagree over whether or not to purchase something for our house. My husband wants to have a replica made of a large salmon that he caught in Alaska and hang it in the living room. It would take up most of the space on a very large wall and cost a lot of money. We have discussed the idea several times, but I still think that it would not look good in our house. My husband thinks it would look good, and he would enjoy reminiscing about that time in his career every time he looked at it (he is a fishing guide).

Cooperative strategies for resolving conflict involve pleasing both individuals involved and are beneficial to the relationship (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). A couple cooperative strategies that may work for resolving this conflict are compromise and exploring all options. Compromise would mean both my husband and I giving a little to get a little (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). I understand that my husband wants to save a memory so maybe we can find a solution that we both agree on. In order to find a solution it would help to brainstorm all of the options. "Offering--and potentially negotiating--alternatives is a useful tactic for cooperative conflict management" (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012, p. 240). Hopefully by exploring options and reaching a compromise, we will end up in a win-win situation--a result that pleases both of us (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).

Essentially for compromise to work, both people need to remember to be respectful and open-minded. The 3R's are always important in any conflict.

Has anyone had a similar disagreement with a spouse or significant other? How did you resolve it?

Reference:

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:

Bedford/St. Martin's.