Week 2 of Swim Lessons

On Monday, I was so proud of Helen Grace. She listened to Miss Gwin and minded her every request. She eagerly went to her and got really wet, did some arm strokes, kicked a bunch, and blew endless bubbles. About 15 minutes before the end of class, I heard the first, “I wanna go home.” Miss Gwin told her to come on and get in the water, and she responded, “I wanna go home NOW.” Miss Gwin told her to do it one more time, and she’d let her be done for the day. HG quickly hopped in, did her task, and came running to me. She watched me a lot more today, but I cheered her on and made silly faces to which she giggled and stuck her tongue out at me.

Afterward, we rewarded her with dinner and then met up with Granddaddy and Spiffer for Gracie Bleu. The second part of her reward was to walk through the new house down the street, but as we turned in the neighborhood, she told me she didn’t want to go to the ‘building’ because the boo boo on her foot hurt (a little blister that’s been bothering her). As we turned into our driveway, I heard her head drop against the side of her car seat. The child was CONKED OUT. I was able to get her right into bed, and she’s slept all night.

Tuesday’s class was rained out, and boy was she excited!

On Wednesday, she was doing a happy dance all day because it rained on and off, and she was convinced she wasn’t going to have to go. Well sure enough, the clouds parted and the sun peaked out enough that Miss Gwin had swim class. She wasn’t thrilled but went willingly. Again, she was into it for the first 30 minutes, but she soon grew tired and downright irate. Miss Gwin threw up her hands, quit making her get in, and declared it was a success that we got her in the water for as long as we did. She had promised her a cupcake, and we picked some up at Kroger on the way home. It was obviously time for a bath after one of those!

After her bath, she sat still long enough that I was able to not only brush her hair really well but also braid it for the first time in her entire life. HUGE accomplishment (and a surprise to me that I could still braid after all these years). Thank you, Dora.

Thursday was our last class for the week. It’s rained for the last several days, and the temp has dropped from the 100s down into the 80s. Unfortunately, the safety lesson for the day was about how “Cold Kills” (dangers of hypothermia). Well, the day that the pool water temp was 10 degrees lower than normal was NOT the day to teach that lesson. The little ones were all convinced they were going to die, and HG wasn’t the only one protesting. I was determined she was going to get in on the last day. Three or four times, she refused to get in, so I walked over there, picked her up, and handed her to Miss Gwin. She screamed the whole time (with no tears although you would have thought she were dying), but Miss Gwin got some bubble-blowing out of her. UGH. I had planned on asking about when she planned on doing some make up classes because of the rain, but then and there I decided we were done with swim class! Miss Gwin gave them all a report card and some candy, and the {fake} crying immediately stopped and a smile appeared.

P for Pass, I for Incomplete…and for the record, I think she was a little light in her grading. I never saw HG do any jumps…unless she meant jumping out of her arms to dry land…