Super Swimmers

So the girls started swimming lessons at the begining of the month. They are in seperate classes but bith at the same time which is very nice for me! Emily is doing very well and has enjoyed her lessons since day one, although she did remark the other day, Mom why do we have lessons every day? "Every day" is of course a loosly used word usually meaning often. But in thsi case every week.

So anyway...Sydney was excited the frist day but as soon as she and Emily split up, it was a,ll over. There were tears, there was sobbing in a ball on the floor, and snuffling into my neck. You name it. Finally I sat on the floor and got her to put her feet in the pool, to kick a tiny bit, and to get sipped in the water. She ended the lesson with a jump into the arms of coach/lifegaurd and I thought we were problem free. The next week she went just with Karl since I could not make it and never even got her toes wet. It was a pretty frustrating thing for everyone which was a big shock to me since she loved going to the pool this summer.

So the following friday she mentioned to me she wanted us to go and buy some playdough. I jumped on that and ran with it! I offered her the chance to get playdough if she cooperated in class and did evrything the teacher asked in swim lessons.

The next day she walked into class, sat on the edge of the pool and beamed at the teacher. No fear there! The teacher looked at me a little puzzled and could not figure out what happened and I explained the playdough request. Sydney was a perfect angel in class! And of course she got her playdough. This week, after another fantastic performance in swim class, Emily hoped out of the pool and said"Ok Mom, let's go to walmart and buy some toys!" Poor thing was a little bummed when I did not immediately follow through on that suggestions. Luckily, a trip into the YMCA Child Watch seemed to go over just as well!

Emily is doing quite well, she can swim a little on her side now without a floaty, but does quite well with a floaty. She still has issues jumping into the pool and getting her head under water though, but hopefully we can work through those.

Sydney seems ok with wetting her head and blows bubbles beautifully. She also is doing a great job kicking and working her arms, but it will probably take a few more sets of lessons before she is a "swimmer"