1, 2, 3, Jump

Wednesday was Mikey and Roger's last swimming lesson (at least until March). I decided to take a little break from swimming lessons because it's just too much. Not too much money, nor time for it is only half-an-hour twice a week. But you try to get four kids fed, dressed, in the car (with shoes and coats), to the rec center, into the locker room, out of their street clothes, and into the pool by 9:15 in the morning. Then, after going through all that, I am not content to have them swim for 30 minutes, so after class we swim until 11, then I take the kids into the locker room, into a shower room, shower and wash all the kids, dry them off, put their clothes on, put their shoes and coats on, take them out to the car (which in itself is extremely difficult - I only have two hands), bring them home, have them sit up to the table to eat lunch as I try to clean up breakfast and make lunch, all while at least one child is crying and throwing a fit during one or more of those things. Sometimes it is just too much.

But even though it is a lot of work, it is definitely worth it. The boys love swimming, and have really improved a lot. They are swimming with their faces down in the water - before they would freak out if they would get their faces splashed with water in the tub, something that happens many times to each kid during bathtime. Mikey still doesn't quite like the splashing, but he tolerates it.

The first day of swimming they had no concept of staying in line, they held hands the entire time, definitely didn't put their faces in the water, and kept on letting go of the edge of the pool during instruction time. Now they understand and obey line etiquette, are becoming more independent of eachother (even though Mikey will usually make sure that they are standing by eachother), and obeying most of the instructions given them.

Miss Ruth, their teacher, is so amazing. She makes a special connection with each child. She teases Mikey by calling him "Mickey" and even though it started out as an honest mistake, they have fun with it. Mikey's had to work harder on swimming because he can touch the bottom of the pool (barely) so at times it is easier for him to just have his face out of the water and be standing than it is to swim. When I practice with him afterwards I will compliment him on the skills he has improved on, and he loves it when I tell him that his daddy will be so impressed. He can swim from one end of the pool to the other, even with his face in the water.

Because he's not as tall, has great physical coordination, and is fearless, Roger is a natural at swimming. He is a very quick learner, even though he often gets distracted from the lesson. Even though he will disobey because he is distracted, Miss Ruth has never been mean or unforgiving of him. She celebrates him and who he is, and he loves her in return.

The boys' favorite thing about swim class (besides Miss Ruth) is Jumping. They love to jump in the water. On special days they are allowed to jump off the diving platform. They will usually have a water noodle to jump to, but Mikey insists on not needing the noodle, and he jumps in and swims over to the edge with no problems. Roger has everyone's attention when he jumps in. He loves it so much, and has absolutely no fear. He tells Miss Ruth, "I'm going to do a Big Boy Jump!" then he'll jump. While in the air he'll spread his legs out, then once under the water, he'll swim over to Miss Ruth.

Todd's dad once said, "I could see your kids excelling in the more non-traditional sports". Like swimming and sledding?