Every single day!

Like every other parent that I know around here, we have had a swim or dive meet every night this week.  Add to that, the morning practices and we basically live at the pool.   Having not grown up in this culture of "Your life revolves around the pool during the summer", I am a little mystified and exhausted.  I would just not bother, but it leaves my kids with no other children to play with.  All the other kids are doing the same thing! And I am not kidding!  I only know of 3 children NOT on a summer swim team.  And honestly for a set daily schedule in the summer and a way to make sure the kids are getting exercise, the price is great. at least it basically sucks up July and leaves August alone. So normally August is very relaxing. (Unless I am silly enough to sign up the kids for football or cheerleading!- Not on your life!  The 6 year olds practice 4 days a week!  Seriously?  Why does a 6 year old need that much practice?)   Thankfully we have friends whose father played football in college and he insists that his boys not play until 6th grade.  Thank you Lord for leading them into my life. I am so grateful that I can have the same rule and "prove" that you can still play football in college if you start 6 years later!  I am so grateful for other parents advice and council.  It is things like this that make it easier for me to be a parent.  Who said you can't use peer pressure against your kids?  Probably the best thing you can do is band together.

***Don't know why this didn't get posted months ago-but this is from July 15th, but posted November 19 2010

Faking it.

Now that summer has started, I live at the pool almost every day.   With swim team and dive team, it is inevitable that I go every day.  Keener  loves going and most spends a lot of time swimming by herself or with the other 2-4 year olds that hang out near the entry steps into the pool.  The main difference is that she is the only one who is able to swim at the age of 3.  Like Rolo, she is 95% self taught.  I learned a lot from Elizabeth and Christopher about how to teach a child to swim.  The biggest mistake that I (and others) make: showing fear.

  Teaching a kid to swim is all about the fake.  You have to pretend that you are not worried about her drowning.  You have to pretend that when she goes under the water and comes up coughing, that your child must have had a wonderful time doing so.  You need to congratulate her on how much fun she must be having.  Tell her that she did a good job putting her face under the water.  Tell her she is a great swimmer. Why?  because, then she will want to do it again.  So how does this work? You have confused your child.  She is thinking "That wasn't very fun, why is Mommy so excited?" Then she becomes interested in making swimming fun.  She has to figure out a way to find the joy.  She also will start to watch the other kids swim and learn from them.  This is not to say that I do not use other swimming devices (the baby swimming ring, the vest, and a swim noodle) to help my kids learn, but "the fake" is my most effective weapon.
    Right now my only problem is the other parents who keep trying to "save" her.  As if I would not be watching my child in the water!  Oh well, they can enjoy their own clinging child pulling down their bathing suit and scratching them to pieces for a few more years, while I enjoy watching mine swim!