fimming lessons
Daniel can't pronounce the "sw" sound, so he substitutes "f": "Mom, let's go fimming! I need put on my fimming clothes! Where's my fimming pulpit*?"
We just finished our second morning of swimming lessons, and I've learned a few things myself:
1) Take the bike, not the car. Parking is madness.
2) Pack a change of dry clothes for the kids. Even though it's a short ride home, chances are good that after lessons and lunch at the pool, someone (usually Anya) will fall asleep on the way home. Plus, Daniel gets cold easily, even with the nice warm weather outside.
3) When Anya cries for the teenage sitter, just leave to do your own laps. She recovers in about a minute.
To tell the truth, I was a little worried about how Anya would take to swimming lessons. We've been visiting the pool regularly for several weeks, and until Sunday, she didn't even want to step in the wading pool. Sunday, we went to the pool for a little bit in the afternoon, and she finally splashed her feet in the water, then ventured in the kiddie pool, and even went in the big pool with me for a few minutes. I have her with me in the parent/tot group while Daniel has his Level 1 class, and I'm happy to report that they both LOVE it. The parent/tot class is a big group of mamas with their babies and young toddlers, and it's pretty much like any toddler class you take anywhere, only it's in the water. We sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and do the Hokey Pokey and practice blowing bubbles in the water, all of which Anya thinks is hysterically funny. Today we got out the miniature kickboards, and once she found a yellow one, she held onto it for the rest of the class. She may be a swimmer yet. Daniel seemed to be doing just fine, from what I could tell of my glances over to his class at the other side of the shallow end of the pool. He was going up and down the steps to the water and flirting with the teacher. It seems I had nothing to worry about.
We have lessons for the next three weeks, and I'm glad for it. It gets us out of the house, and we all get good exercise, especially if I'm biking with the kids in the trailer behind me. One of my piano students lives in the neighborhood, and she can babysit for half an hour while I do my own laps (and if she can't be there, she has lots of friends available to babysit), so the kids get someone new to play with for a little bit while I have some time to do my own thing. It's working out for everyone so far.
ETA: Both kids went to bed at 6:30, after not having napped at all in the afternoon. Anya kept falling asleep on her dinner plate, and Daniel didn't even bother to eat! This new routine might take a little getting used to.
*A "fimming pulpit" is a swimming diaper/pull-up. Daniel mispronounces "pull-up" as "pulpit." I'm sure he could say it correctly by now, but it's so amusing we don't have the heart to correct him. Besides, he's in underwear full-time now, except for time in the pool (because we're not accident-free, if the bucket full of poopy underwear and bleach is any indication), so he hardly has a reason to say "pull-up" OR "pulpit" these days.
We just finished our second morning of swimming lessons, and I've learned a few things myself:
1) Take the bike, not the car. Parking is madness.
2) Pack a change of dry clothes for the kids. Even though it's a short ride home, chances are good that after lessons and lunch at the pool, someone (usually Anya) will fall asleep on the way home. Plus, Daniel gets cold easily, even with the nice warm weather outside.
3) When Anya cries for the teenage sitter, just leave to do your own laps. She recovers in about a minute.
To tell the truth, I was a little worried about how Anya would take to swimming lessons. We've been visiting the pool regularly for several weeks, and until Sunday, she didn't even want to step in the wading pool. Sunday, we went to the pool for a little bit in the afternoon, and she finally splashed her feet in the water, then ventured in the kiddie pool, and even went in the big pool with me for a few minutes. I have her with me in the parent/tot group while Daniel has his Level 1 class, and I'm happy to report that they both LOVE it. The parent/tot class is a big group of mamas with their babies and young toddlers, and it's pretty much like any toddler class you take anywhere, only it's in the water. We sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and do the Hokey Pokey and practice blowing bubbles in the water, all of which Anya thinks is hysterically funny. Today we got out the miniature kickboards, and once she found a yellow one, she held onto it for the rest of the class. She may be a swimmer yet. Daniel seemed to be doing just fine, from what I could tell of my glances over to his class at the other side of the shallow end of the pool. He was going up and down the steps to the water and flirting with the teacher. It seems I had nothing to worry about.
We have lessons for the next three weeks, and I'm glad for it. It gets us out of the house, and we all get good exercise, especially if I'm biking with the kids in the trailer behind me. One of my piano students lives in the neighborhood, and she can babysit for half an hour while I do my own laps (and if she can't be there, she has lots of friends available to babysit), so the kids get someone new to play with for a little bit while I have some time to do my own thing. It's working out for everyone so far.
ETA: Both kids went to bed at 6:30, after not having napped at all in the afternoon. Anya kept falling asleep on her dinner plate, and Daniel didn't even bother to eat! This new routine might take a little getting used to.
*A "fimming pulpit" is a swimming diaper/pull-up. Daniel mispronounces "pull-up" as "pulpit." I'm sure he could say it correctly by now, but it's so amusing we don't have the heart to correct him. Besides, he's in underwear full-time now, except for time in the pool (because we're not accident-free, if the bucket full of poopy underwear and bleach is any indication), so he hardly has a reason to say "pull-up" OR "pulpit" these days.
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