I have a five-year old son and living with him is a learning experience. When I wake up in the morning, you know, they talk, and sometimes they’re stubborn to get up in the morning for school. They don’t want to go to school. When they come home from school, they tend not to want to do their homework. They would rather watch cartoons or play as opposed to doing their homework. During dinner time it’s hard to get them to sit down and eat dinner without them getting up to play and run around. During bath time they make a huge mess in the bathrooms. They splash water. They smear toothpaste all over the bath tubs and sinks. During bed time, they rather sleep with you as opposed to sleeping in their own bed. But, overall, having a five-year old is a learning experience.
My parents are teachers, both of them. But, my dad actually in Ecuador when we lived there, he was, a lawyer, and he was a radio personality, but when we came here, he had to find a job that was good and paid well, decently at least, and since he had a lot of credentials, he found a job as a teacher. My mom was actually a teacher from the beginning in Ecuador, so, so yea, so she found a job as a teacher. Now they both teach in Elizabeth where we live. My dad is a high school teacher. My mom teacher is kindergarten. So…
I’m going to talk about my family. I was born in Germany a long time ago. My father and my mother were both Germans. And I have no brothers and sisters, which is good because I had all the attention to myself and every Christmas when it was time to receive presents. I received them all because I didn’t have to share with any silly brother or sister. I had two uncles and I had several aunts, all of whom loved me very much and gave me many many presents, and I had one grandmother. My grandfathers, they died. My other grandmother died. But I had one grandmother whom I cared for very much. She loved me. She read to me. She recited poetry. And she taught me certain things very important about life, and I will always thank her and always remember her.
My father was born in Italy and he was trained in Italy to be a blacksmith, but when he came to this country he was 17 and there was not much call for blacksmiths. So, he relearned a trade. He became a carpenter, and after 10 years working in that trade, he went into business for himself and became a building contractor. Um, my mother was born in Italy. Came here as a child. Went to secretarial school here. And worked as a secretary for 3 or 4 years ‘til she married. And then she became a stay at home mom. And that’s what she was for the rest of her life.
The best character trait that I inherited from either parent I would have to say is my mother’s good humor. My mother has a lot of spice and she got a lot of energy and, and it travels with her, and it, it fills a room wherever she goes, and uh, it makes everyone feel comfortable, and I think I’ve acquired that whenever I feel comfortable it definitely comes out and I like to make people laugh and I don’t mind making a fool out of myself for a second just to make others enjoy and have a great time.
What I have in common with my family members is a couple of things. I have…I’m the oldest of three siblings. I’m the only woman, the only girl, female and I have two younger brothers. One’s 23; the other one’s 18. And believe it or not I have more in common with the 18 year old than the 23 old being that were closer in age. I’m 27. The 18 his name is George. So with George what I have in common is that we’re both very laid-back. We both love to shop and were very into the fashion you can say, and we sort of give each other advice on what to wear, what not to wear. Him being 18 and a male he really does give me some good advice. And I think with the 23 year old, his name is Joe. It’s a very…we’re all very responsible, but with Joe and I we’re both more into being responsible, but still try to have fun because you know it’s like balance it out. And with my parents, my temperament comes from my dad, and sometimes, but my patience comes from my mom, because I have a lot of patience, and that’s all I can think of right now.
If I were to compare two member of my family I would probably choose my mother and my father. My mother is very strict. Some would say she’s a little bit more cold. In other words, not as friendly. She has a lot of emotion, but she just doesn’t like to show it, whereas my father is the complete opposite. He’s very warm, very friendly, very loving, kind of like me. He’s also very much into family. He’s always calling family members; however, my mom doesn’t. She’s not that attached to anybody. I mean, both amazing people, but ultimately very different in their own senses.
Communication Exercises 