Swimming Lessons and Nap Riots

We've just wrapped up ten days of swimming lessons and I am beat.  I think the kids are too, but perhaps overly so, since Phoebe and Nora have been practically bouncing off the walls since I tucked them into their beds an hour ago.  I busted Phoebe bouncing on Nora's bed; I'm pretty sure that violates every single naptime rule we have.  I'm giving them twenty more minutes before I call naptime a bust and take everybody out to Happy Hour.

The past two weeks have been unbelievable.  Michael's mom and dad graciously opened up their home and pool to nine children under six and their four mommies for two weeks.  Every day we've invaded at 9:45 and not left until after lunch.  We pretty much took over.  And it was wonderful.  My house looks terrible, I can barely form complete sentences after about two o'clock, and I haven't exercised in a week, but it was so worth it.  We invested in lessons with an incredible teacher (local friends, I would highly recommend her to you) who now has all of our kids jumping in and swimming out of the pool.

 

 

I'm amazed at how a little daily diligence can reap huge rewards.  The kids worked their cute little tails off during their hour each day, but really:  an hour a day for ten days turned our kids from total non-swimmers (Phoebe and Nora both loved to play in the water, but were limited to hanging onto Mommy and Daddy) into really successful swimmers.  I'm looking forward to being able to work with them even more this summer.  Even timid little Phoebe jumped in eagerly and swam across the width of the pool today, multiple times.

One of the fringe benefits of swimming lessons has been getting to spend time each day with some sweet, sweet friends.  It was energizing and encouraging to be able to share this time with them, and I am going to deeply miss our daily Mommy Dates.  Tara talked me into ordering some fabric for drapes and bringing out the sewing machine again, Carolynn lovingly braided my girls' hair (and taught me how to do it, too!) just about every day, and I was delighted to get to know Amber, someone I've been told I should meet for a long, long time.  We're hoping to swim frequently this summer, and I'm hopeful that maybe some iced coffee will magically appear at all of our swimming dates.

  

Ruthie is still absolutely terrified of the pool (as in, she shakes when we bring her out onto the pool deck and tries to bury herself in my chest whenever anyone goes off the diving board), but I'm really looking forward to having two swimmers to take to the pool this summer.  What a fun way to kick off Independence Day weekend -- with some aquatic independence!