summer
Our summer routine was thrown off a little this morning when we got kicked out of swimming lessons.
No one was being unruly or anything, but when we showed up and asked for help finding our instructors, we were told that since we missed the first week of lessons (due to being out of town), there was no longer a place for us. The guy I talked to gave me a lecture about how people were turned down for swimming lessons because there were more requests than slots available and we shouldn't have signed up…and frankly, while I understand the policy (it's unfortunate to turn people down, I get that), I'm still a little pissed off. The deadline for the first session of swim lessons was way back in April before I even knew we would be out of town. I turned in our lesson forms well before that deadline, and dude, it's summer. People go on vacation. I've talked to plenty of people at the pool in past years who missed a week of lessons due to travel or illness or whatever and weren't penalized, so I had no way of knowing that they were going to start enforcing this policy right now.
Mostly I'm sore that the guy was so grouchy with me. We're all adults here and there are few things I hate more than being talked down to. Not to mention, a pool membership is no trivial expense for a family like ours and I am sad that we won't be able to take full advantage this time around. At least there is another session next month, so the kids will get three weeks of lessons in July and won't miss out entirely.
For all I know I was the third or sixth or tenth person of the day to enquire about swimming instructors a week after the lessons started, so I'm not going to hold it against this guy for being testy, at least, not for more than the next couple of days. Also, there is a new manager this year, so maybe they're cracking down on ragamuffins like us who don't happen to live in the exclusive neighborhood surrounding the pool and go camping for a week instead of showing up to the first few swimming lessons.
It's ok. I'll get over it.
Anyway, this has left us with more free time than I'd anticipated, at least for this week, so I'm trying to come up with ways to keep us busy. This afternoon, I took the kids' doors off their bedrooms and painted them with chalkboard paint. This is an idea I had way back in the fall when I worked so hard on redoing Daniel's bedroom. I'd even bought the chalkboard paint for the door but didn't get around to the project before it got too cold and wet to work outside. When we got home earlier than expected this morning, he suggested we paint his door, so I said, "Sure, why not?" and Anya wanted hers done, too, and so we did.
Tomorrow I want to get a shitload of strawberries to make into freezer jam, so we'll either go to a U-pick place or buy some already picked. I've also invited my friend's kids over for the afternoon so she and her husband can move into a new apartment.
After that, I'm not sure what we'll do to keep ourselves busy. A 6yo and 8yo should be able to keep themselves entertained to some extent, and I always have outdoor projects that need tending to. Summertime always makes me ask myself just how structured our time should be. Is it better to keep ourselves really busy, to make sure we don't get bored? Or is it good to be bored, to learn about introspection and self-reflection, and finding ways to keep our minds busy even when our waking hours are relatively free and unscheduled?
Personally, I lean towards the latter, but the parenting part of me is thinking it's a good way to go nuts during summer break.
What about you?
No one was being unruly or anything, but when we showed up and asked for help finding our instructors, we were told that since we missed the first week of lessons (due to being out of town), there was no longer a place for us. The guy I talked to gave me a lecture about how people were turned down for swimming lessons because there were more requests than slots available and we shouldn't have signed up…and frankly, while I understand the policy (it's unfortunate to turn people down, I get that), I'm still a little pissed off. The deadline for the first session of swim lessons was way back in April before I even knew we would be out of town. I turned in our lesson forms well before that deadline, and dude, it's summer. People go on vacation. I've talked to plenty of people at the pool in past years who missed a week of lessons due to travel or illness or whatever and weren't penalized, so I had no way of knowing that they were going to start enforcing this policy right now.
Mostly I'm sore that the guy was so grouchy with me. We're all adults here and there are few things I hate more than being talked down to. Not to mention, a pool membership is no trivial expense for a family like ours and I am sad that we won't be able to take full advantage this time around. At least there is another session next month, so the kids will get three weeks of lessons in July and won't miss out entirely.
For all I know I was the third or sixth or tenth person of the day to enquire about swimming instructors a week after the lessons started, so I'm not going to hold it against this guy for being testy, at least, not for more than the next couple of days. Also, there is a new manager this year, so maybe they're cracking down on ragamuffins like us who don't happen to live in the exclusive neighborhood surrounding the pool and go camping for a week instead of showing up to the first few swimming lessons.
It's ok. I'll get over it.
Anyway, this has left us with more free time than I'd anticipated, at least for this week, so I'm trying to come up with ways to keep us busy. This afternoon, I took the kids' doors off their bedrooms and painted them with chalkboard paint. This is an idea I had way back in the fall when I worked so hard on redoing Daniel's bedroom. I'd even bought the chalkboard paint for the door but didn't get around to the project before it got too cold and wet to work outside. When we got home earlier than expected this morning, he suggested we paint his door, so I said, "Sure, why not?" and Anya wanted hers done, too, and so we did.
Tomorrow I want to get a shitload of strawberries to make into freezer jam, so we'll either go to a U-pick place or buy some already picked. I've also invited my friend's kids over for the afternoon so she and her husband can move into a new apartment.
After that, I'm not sure what we'll do to keep ourselves busy. A 6yo and 8yo should be able to keep themselves entertained to some extent, and I always have outdoor projects that need tending to. Summertime always makes me ask myself just how structured our time should be. Is it better to keep ourselves really busy, to make sure we don't get bored? Or is it good to be bored, to learn about introspection and self-reflection, and finding ways to keep our minds busy even when our waking hours are relatively free and unscheduled?
Personally, I lean towards the latter, but the parenting part of me is thinking it's a good way to go nuts during summer break.
What about you?
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