Funny how sometimes a slip-up can actually lead to something unexpected and fun isn't it? It doesn't happen often to me, but when it does I have to laugh at the progression and how things turn out in the end. This whole post has to start out with an explanation about a slip-up on my part. Turns out with everything that was going on at the beginning of the year, I had meant to, but totally forgot to sign Zach up for spring outdoor soccer. Although that doesn't sound really bad, I have to tell you that he has been looking forward to outdoor soccer for quite a while. Last year we signed him up for indoor soccer and although he had a good time, he decided that outdoor was his favorite and after a 2 year break, he was all excited to do it again. So excited in fact, that he had his sister convinced that she wanted to do soccer too. So in order to keep from having 2 in soccer at the same time and trying to coordinate games, practices, etc., we agreed that Zach would do spring outdoor soccer while Hailey was finishing up dance and Hailey would do fall outdoor soccer, with Zach doing flag football right after. It was a wonderful plan and I'm sure it all would have worked out wonderfully, except for one thing. There wasn't anything in the plan to account for a busy mom forgetting to sign up Zach for spring outdoor soccer. Well, that one thing that would mess up the entire plan happened and I forgot. At first the kids were a little upset, but we explained the mistake and promised that we would sign them both up for fall outdoor soccer as soon as sign-ups started (yes, I guess we're going to go through the pain of 2 doing it at the same time, even though that's what we were trying to avoid in the first place). They were happy and started reminding me daily not to forget - of course we were still 2 months away from fall sign-ups at this point, but I suppose I deserved that.
Although things were worked out, I still felt bad after the whole forgetting thing, so I started searching around trying to find something else for them to do. Baseball wasn't really an option due to the tremendous increase in fees from moving from the recreation center run league to Little League, so that wasn't going to work. Luckily, I stumbled upon swimming lessons. Once I mentioned it to the kids and saw their excitement, all past mistakes on my part were utterly and completely forgiven and I knew I had found the activity that would make up for my forgetfulness. I got up early the morning of registration and got them into the last 2 available spots for Level 1 swimming at the time that worked best for us. The kids were thrilled when I let them know it was all set and the only thing left for them to do was be excited the remaining 4 weeks until lessons started (let me tell you, it was a long 4 weeks!).
The week after school got out, the lessons started and they had a blast! There were only 6 kids in their class and it was nice for them to have such one-on-one attention. Since this was their first time in actual "swimming lessons" I wasn't sure exactly how this would go. But they both surprised me by completely loving it and looking forward to it every single day. Since it was just a Level 1 class, they spent more time just getting the kids used to being in the water and doing some simple things. I was amazed as I watched my kids who moved from kids who would yell and scream any time any water got in their faces, to actually choosing to put their heads in the water as long as they could. In fact, by the end of class they were doing it without even plugging their noses - something I don't think I can even do!
The also practised gliding on their backs and stomachs, bobbing in the water, and even using their arms in the traditional swimming motion.
Zach was by far the most fun to watch - he would always be dunking his head in the water whenever he could. He absolutely loved it! Once I noticed that he stayed under for a full 7 seconds - pretty impressive if you ask me!
Tate and I enjoyed going and watching the kids as well. Tate was such a good boy and stayed in his stroller or sat in a chair next to me while the kids were swimming. I was worried that he would try to get in the water himself, but other than saying it a few times, he didn't really try to get near the water, which was nice.
The kids had a blast and before we knew it, the two weeks were over. I promised them I would sign them up again (for Level 2 this time since they both passed Level 1), but after a crazy couple of weeks back and forth I was thinking maybe we would wait until next year. Of course I forgot enough about how hard it was because I just signed them up for a Level 2 class starting two weeks from tomorrow - what was I thinking? Of course they are so excited and can't wait to go swimming every day for two weeks again! Hopefully we'll be a little more organized this time and things will run a little more smoothly. If not, then it's only 2 weeks and the amount of fun the kids will have will be well worth it!
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