Swimming Lessons

Today was Jonathan's much-anticipated first day of swimming lessons. We've been talking about them a lot and preparing, too. For some reason, getting water in his eyes really upsets Jonathan. So, I resorted to bribery. (It works around here, I think, because I rarely do it: only for potty training and swimming lessons.) Have you seen those little vitamin-capsule thingies that you put in warm water and they expand to be some kind of sponge shape? Well, I found a package of them on clearance for $.75 at Wal-Mart, and I give a capsule to Jonathan each time he can get his eyes wet during a bath/shower and wipe off with his hands without fussing or whining. Not a big deal for some kids, but a big accomplishment for him. And it's helped him a lot.

So, anyway, we were all ready, after lots of pep talking, to do Level 2 lessons. He may be in level 2 for every session he takes this summer, and that's fine! I was not sure how it would go with Grace along, but I got Jonathan sunscreened, fed her, loaded up the car, and made it to the lesson in plenty of time. There were seven kids in his class, and his two teachers were Ms. Erika and Ms. Chelsea from last year. The new Ella was even in his class. She looks older, though, as she has short hair now and has completed kindergarten, so I don't think Jonathan recognized her at first.

Jonathan did really well. I know he had to work very hard to get his face in the water, but he did it several times without whining, and I was really proud of him. I think these two weeks will be a really good experience for him. It's good practice for him to follow directions in a group whenever he can. He's very willing to do it, but I don't think he always realizes that the teacher means him, too, when she is talking to everyone. While he was in the pool, Gracie and I walked laps around the inside perimeter of the pool area. All the other parents sat in the bleachers. I don't know what they were thinking about what I was doing, but I really enjoyed getting some exercise. I'm pretty excited to get half an hour of walking squeezed in each day instead of just sitting (and I can't imagine that Gracie would be too excited about just sitting.) This is the first real exercise I've done in a long time (besides climbing our stairs during the day) and it feels good.

It feels like an accomplishment to be able to do this by myself with two kids. Not that it's that big of a deal, but it's a new thing for me.