Swimming

Swimming lessons started last night. 6-6:30 is Bubba's lesson (which includes me holding him the whole time and lifting him over my head at least 20 times), and 6:30-7 is Scooter's lesson. Her lesson is almost as physically challenging for me, as it includes keeping Bubba from climbing the chain link fence between the pool area and the spectator area. I think next week, we'll be a little slower getting dressed after our lesson. Maybe we can slow this thing down to 29 minutes or so.

Bubba's lesson was a little surprising. First off, he did this for 4 months last year. Same teacher (mostly), same songs, same everything. Secondly, he was last in a pool about 9 weeks ago. But nevertheless, he was scared of the water. Usually, we'll hold hands and walk down the steps into the pool until it's up to his waist or so. Last night, I had to carry him, his arms double wrapped around my neck and his legs constricting my waist. He didn't want to turn around and face forward. He didn't want to do the motions of the songs we sang. He just wanted to squeeze me for the first 15 minutes of class. After we sat on the side and kicked and did a few jumps in, though, he settled back into a routine and by the end of class, he was laying his head on my shoulder and floating on his back, completely stretched out - which is more than he has ever accomplished before. Yay, Bubba! He even put his face in the water and blew bubbles.

Scooter started out almost as scared. Luckily, I didn't have to be in the water with her. I think she wished I was, though. I had signed her up for level 2, which was taught by 2 younger-looking boys (high school kids?). She was nervous to the point of almost crying. Oh dear. But she quickly showed them that she actually belonged in level 2.5 and was moved up. After that, she did great. Crawl stroke across the pool a few times, and some elementary back stroke thrown in for good measure. She'll be in level 3 in no time, and after that, it's swim team.

There were 2 bad things from last night.
1. I got in trouble for allowing Scooter to sit in the spectator section (remember - there is only a chain link fence separating her from me) by herself with a book. Twice. I'm "more than welcome to put her in the care of another parent in the spectator area." Really? It's more desirable for me to make her sit by a stranger than it is for me to make her sit farther away from said stranger? Dumb. I understand the policy. I understand that if someone were to come in off the street and drag her out kicking and screaming, it would be difficult for me to leap out of the pool w/ Bubba and come to her aid, and YOU (Beaverton Aquatic Center) do not want to be held responsible for that. But I don't understand why you would rather I make her sit next to a stranger, who may or may not be there legitimately to watch their own kid, who also may somehow molest my daughter quietly in the corner. But whatever. I'll go early to lessons next week to scope out a "safe" looking stranger to be responsible for my 8 year old with her book.
2. I ran into Bubba's old daycare teacher. He recently moved from Big Todds to Pre School, so she's no longer his teacher, but we still have a nearly year long relationship with her. And I love her. I think she's a great teacher and she really helped us get a handle on potty training and development. The problem was that until last night, everytime I saw her, I was wearing business casual. Last night, I was in a wet swim suit. It's like that nightmare where you go to school naked. Only it was real: Bubba's school had come to me when I was nearly naked. He also had a hard time wrapping his head around seeing a teacher outside of the school setting. Maybe he was embarrassed at being in his too-small swim trunks.