Erik Erikson was a psychologist who was born in Germany on June 15, 1902 and died in 1994.

He is famous for his expansion of Sigmund Freuds five psychosexual stages. Erikson took Freuds five stages and elaborated on them and added three more stages. The first of these stages is the oral-sensory stage, or trust vs. mistrust. According to Erikson, this stage lasts from birth until a child is approximately a year and a half. In order to get a positive outcome at the end of this stage, the parents of the child need to win the childs trust by showing consistency, love, and reliability without being to overprotective of him/her. If the parents succeed at this stage, the child will leave this stage trusting not only his/her parents, but also him/herself. I do not remember this stage of my life; however, I spoke with my mother about what I was like at time and was able to get a lot of information that way. I also know my parents well enough to have a general understanding of how they parented me as a young child. I was born on February 2, 1974 at Henry County Memorial Hospital in New Castle, Indiana. My mom and dad had been married for seven years and already had one child, my sister Kelli, who was 2 years old when I was born. They planned to have another child and had been trying when my mom got pregnant with me, so it was not a surprise and they were very happy when they found out. We lived in a two-bedroom house on Ohio Street in New Castle during this stage. It was a small house with a fenced in back yard and a swimming pool. We lived just a few blocks away from my grandparents and my great grandmothers house. We walked over to see them at least a couple times a week. We also lived close to our

church and walked there every Sunday. My dad worked at B&B shoe store during the day and was home with us in the evenings. When he came home at night, we would have dinner as a family and then he would play his guitar and sing to us. As soon as we could walk and talk we would dance and sing with my parents. My dad was drafted and sent to Vietnam from 1968-1969, where he had many horrible experiences. When he first came home he had a lot of problems with memories and nightmares. According to my mom, he was much better by the time I was born. My mom was with us most of the time and we rarely had a babysitter. She got pregnant shortly after I was born and had my brother, Patrick, a year and fifteen days after me. Therefore, my mom was pregnant for a lot of the time that I was in this stage. When I asked my mom how we spent our days at that time, she said she spent her time taking care of us. When we woke up, she would feed and bathe us, clean the house, and play with us. She sang and read to us a lot even when we were babies. She always had dinner on the table when dad came home and in her spare time, after we were asleep, she would work on her ceramics. We walked to our grandparents a lot and had a close relationship with them as well as our aunts and uncles. I feel I was lucky when I was a child to have many family members and friends who loved me and wanted to spend time with me. Although I do not remember this stage, I do know my mother well, and I can just imagine that she was great with us during this stage and I am sure I left this stage trusting my parents and myself.

The second of Eriksons stages is the anal-muscular stage, or autonomy vs. shame and doubt. This is the stage that lasts from around eighteen months to three or four years old. During this stage a child should start to develop her independence. It is very important that the parents and caregivers allow the child to explore her environment, which will help her to develop self-esteem and self-control. However parents should not be too pushy and should not discourage the child from exploring or she may develop shame and doubt. If a child is discouraged from exploring her environment, she will start to feel like she cannot do things for herself, which is bad for her self-esteem. At the same time, a child needs to have limits and boundaries. This will allow a healthy balance between shame and doubt and self-esteem and self-control. I can remember some things about the latter part of this stage in my own life. I still lived in the same little house on Ohio Street until I was almost three years old. My mom says she took us outside to play a lot. We had a swimming pool and swam a lot in the summer. I have always loved the water and my dad taught me how to swim when I was very young. We have home movies of us swimming when I was about two years old. My dad would lift me out of the water and throw me and I would swim back to him for more. We also helped mom and dad with the gardening and spent a lot of time playing with our older cousins who lived a couple houses down. I remember standing at the fence, yelling for them and begging them to come over. My cousin, Dale, who was a teenager at the time would chase me around the yard and try to kiss me.

We still walked to my grandparents and spent time at my aunts house while my dad was at work. When I was almost three, my dad got a job at Chrysler and we moved to a small addition in the country. This is where most of my childhood memories were made. We lived in a three-bedroom brick home and I shared a bedroom with my sister. There was a small lake at the back of the addition and a woods right across the street from our house. My mom says that I was very independent at a young age because my sister was two years older and I wanted to do everything she could do. I was potty trained when I was two because I wanted to go to the potty like Kelli did. She said I always wanted to pick my own clothes and get myself dressed. She also said that I would go off and play by myself with my dolls a lot at this age. We were at home most of the time especially after we moved to the country and mom allowed me to do whatever she felt I was ready for. My dad played guitar and sang almost every night and we would spin around in circles the entire time. I have home movies of this when I was three years old. We all had our pajamas on and dad was playing while we danced. Of course, I had a doll in my arms. I also loved to sing. Mom taught us many goofy songs that I still remember and sing to my baby now. When I was three years old I could sing every word to Lucille by Kenny Rogers. I remember singing it for large crowds at church and reunions. I thought I was the best singer. It is funny to listen to the tapes now. Mom says she can still see my little neck stretched out when I was trying to hit the high notes. My mom is very artistic and she would do crafts with us and encourage us to be creative. I loved to paint and draw.

This stage of my life was a very happy one and through my every day experiences and with the help and patience from my parents and extended family, I began to develop independence, self-esteem, and self-control.