The day after arriving in Florida, I signed my kids up for the YMCA swim team. In Pennsylvania, my kids held their own in the pool.
Here--not so much.
This morning was their first swim meet. In the middle of his 50-yard breast stroke race, Cortlen noticed that he was in last place. Seeing no reason to continue, he stopped swimming and began treading water in the middle of his lane.
"Keep going! Keep going!" we yelled encouragingly from the sidelines.
At least we weren't the only ones with a wayward swimmer.
"Turn around! Turn around!" yelled the parents of another little boy in the same race. Their son had made it to the twenty-five yard line and then, for unknown reasons, turned around and headed back to the starting blocks.
The winner of Camber's heat of butterfly did freestyle the whole way down the pool.
"I'm so doing that too next time," my daughter announced after the race.
Despite bumping into the lane dividers three times, Kellen won his heat of backstroke. When the ribbons were handed out, however, his wasn't blue.
"But I won!!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "You saw me! I won!!!!"
The concept of winning a heat but not having the best overall time is hard for most six year-olds to understand and accept. Mine did so with dignity and grace. He stomped on his ribbon and dangled it over the trash can until I confiscated it and put it in my purse.
"I'm done with swim team," Cortlen announced as we packed up the car to leave.
"Me too," added Kellen.
Camber was on board with doing another meet as long as she could swim freestyle in all her races.
"Guess what!" I told them once we were in the car. "You're signed up and paid through August!"
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That must be hard for them. Kids that have grown up in Florida have probably been swimming since before they could walk.
Good for you for making them stick with it. Hope it works out okay.
you are the meanest mom for making them swim! but they will thank you some day.
Oh man, this brings back memories. Hopefully they'll be like me and at the end of the summer they'll love it.
I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!! You can raise them in Sunny California and they can still stink in the races! My kid takes 30 seconds to even dive off the block. THe other kids have finished and she is still up there scared to jump!
what a great way to grow up! i did so and it was the funnest thing to do every. esp when we got to go to the donut shop afterwards
If you have your six year olds swimming the butterfly, breast stroke and backstroke, you are doing very, very well. Step back and give yourself a pat on the back.
Haha!
Honestly, kids here do swim early. I have several friends whose kids have been proficient swimmers since age 2- no floaties or anything.
Awe, hopefully they'll feel better about it soon! I'd hate to see them give up something they like just because they've moved into new turf where the kids are pulling out more competitive stuff. :(
My 8 year old just learned to swim in the deep end. My 6 year old is still scared of it AND we live in the desert with pools everywhere. So, I am impressed that your children are even up for swim team.
ha! my kids tried that with soccer.
Happens each season....and of course end of season they were begging to sign up for next season.
Lol.
Your posts make my life easier... (6 kids age 8 and under, and I'm only turning 30 this year) So keep it up.
I didn't see comments on the water post below so I'm adding them here. OH, how I remember those days. When my twins were little, they flooded my kitchen more times than i can count. They used a wooden spoon before they were tall enough to reach it. I tried everything I could imagine to keep them out of the water to no avail. Too bad I didn't know you then. You would have commiserated with me!
Your entry takes me back to when my mom signed me up for the swim team...but i only knew how to doggie paddle. "oh, i thought they would teach you the strokes during practice," was her reply.
I just discovered your blog and I love it. I, too, am a "mean" mom. :)
Ugh, I hated swimming! Hate.ed!
At any rate, we are both in that funniest blogger competition, again, and I wanted to say good luck. I remember your funny blog from last year!
haha! they will thank you one day, or at least thats what my parents always tell me. :) tell them to stick it out, something good is bound to happen eventually.
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