Somebody stop summer! Push pause. Hit the switch. Do whatever needs to be done to put off August 22nd. It's already the middle of July and I hear people talking about school starting. And those retailers have their back-to-school supplies set out like they just can't wait for summer to end. We're having too much fun here this summer to want it to be over anytime soon. But, yet, the weeks are still just melting off the calendar one by one. You can be sure the girls and I will be soaking up the next 5 or 6 weeks of being together swimming, playing and trying to forget the end of summer deadline lurking everywhere we look.
I kind of feel like this summer started with a rain delay. After our vacation it rained. A lot. That kind of stunk but we tried to make the best of it.
I've forgotten to mention in any of my posts that we signed Casey up for swim team this summer. The season is almost over, but it's been a great experience despite us signing her up against her wishes. Sometimes as a parent you just have to do what's best for the kid and not what the kid thinks is best for them. My intent on forcing her to be on swim team this year was not to make her be the best swimmer, just a good, strong one. Feeling comfortable in the water will be a skill that will be with her the rest of her life, so I was pretty sure she'd thank me later for this. Worst case scenario, she'd thank me in 20 years. Best case scenario, she'd thank me in a couple of weeks.
Before day one I told her she only had to swim at practices and didn't have to swim at meets.
On day one I told her she had to swim in the first two meets then if she hated it, she could just swim practices. And the parental
lying persuading evolved :) Also since day one, we've told her we don't care if she comes in last every race, we just want her to try her best and have fun. Thankfully, that part I wasn't lying about despite my competitive nature. Well, kind of. At her very first meet, the very first event of the night, she swam the fourth leg on a relay. When she started, the team in first place was almost a half a length ahead and she actually swam and caught up with that swimmer, then overtook her to win the race. I was a
bit very excited and proud, and my competitiveness may have led to some fist pumps on the deck of the pool. Totally not the mom playing it cool. That kind of start to her swim team experience was exactly what she needed to boost her confidence and get to actually liking it. Pure adrenaline must have been powering her because that was the last time she blew through the water like that. Turns out she's just an okay swimmer and that is totally fine with us because it also turns out she loved swimming this summer and that's all that matters. She didn't mind going to practice for an hour each morning and she swam at every meet except when we were on vacation. Last night was the last meet and she is now begging us to sign her up to swim at championships next weekend - that's how much she doesn't want it to end. And I see her holding her own so much more comfortably while swimming in the 12 foot end of the pool and I feel good about our decision. (Let me just pat myself on the back now :)
Meanwhile, Emily has been getting private swim lessons through a local foundation each week. At over 4 feet tall, there is a lot of body for Emily to control in the water. Figure in low muscle tone and her complete lack of awareness for personal safety and sister sinks like a lead balloon in the water. The instructor is a sweet older lady who has been a lap or two around the old swimming pool. Even better, she's taught lessons to kiddos with special needs at a local Y. At the first lesson, I told her my goal for Emily was that she learn to be safe in the water (like if she fell in the water, to get her head up and go to the wall) and to close her mouth in the pool (she smiles the entire time in the pool and takes in an enormous amount of water and I fear the dry drowning experience as much as I do actually drowning in the pool for her).
After 5 lessons, I am so much more comfortable with Emily in the water!! She wears the arm swimmies (can't think of their name right now) and does really well. She's even jumping in the water and that's the kind of big girl thing she wants to do. Smiley still takes in some water, but she knows now that she should close her mouth and that's a really good start for me. And the best was today while swimming with her and Casey, I asked her to chase me and she put her face in the water, started to kick her legs and then paddled her arms and actually swam to me! She, once again, proved to me that she can learn and get the job done, but just at her own pace. And I'm crazy happy about that. Like fist pumping excited about it. Totally not the mom playing it cool. And totally not caring :)
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