South West Louisiana has basically two seasons...rain and hot as heck! Seriously. The heat index today was 107*!! So if you play outside you have to be prepared to sweat, A LOT, or do something water related. Therefore, swim lessons. 😂
You are probably wondering why my husband and I don't just teach them ourselves. Well, that's because neither of us can swim! 😱 I know, I know! I am terrified of water that I can't see my toes in and I hate water in my face. Yes, I'm a weirdo. Haha! Mostly we just never really had a place to learn when I was growing up.
Richard is the youngest of 9 children. Yes, you read that right, NINE! Makes me want to go ahead and check myself into the nursing home at the mere thought!! He has a very interesting story, it's also sad. Maybe one day I will convince him to tell it but for now we will just say there wasn't anyone around to teach him to swim. He learned when he was little then there was an accident and he almost drowned. After that he didn't get in the water for several years and when he did he had forgotten how to swim.
All of these things combined made us decide, when Em was little, that we would put him in swim lessons as soon as he was old enough. I wanted to do it right away but we weren't able to at that time. Plus he was just soooo little!! My parents' neighbors, a sweet little Mennonite family, recommended a lady just down the road from us but she doesn't take them until they are 3.
Before Emerson started swim lessons he wouldn't get water in his face either. Like his mama...ha! But after just an hour a day for a week, he could jump off the side of the pool and swim back! I was so impressed! His teacher told me that she had between 60 and 70 kids in the month of June and I was certain he couldn't learn anything in that short amount of time. Especially in a group. But I was so wrong! He learned sooo much and talked about his swim lessons all year!
Mrs. Tammie started booking this year's swim classes in April and. you better believe, I was one of the first to call! We scheduled them for the week of June !7th. After I got off the phone I told him I had scheduled his swim lessons. BIG mistake! He was ready to go right then and I had to explain that it wasn't for TWO MONTHS! Do you know how long two months is to a four year old?? It's eternity. But I'm so thankful he loves going and has done so well!
If you think it isn't important for a child to like their teacher/instructor you are dead wrong. Children have a better sense of the good and bad in people. If my little social bugs don't like someone, I trust their senses. We used to think people were basically good, but the older I get the more I think the opposite. Maybe I've just been watching too much Criminal Minds. 😜
The first day of swim he had a total blast but when we got home I noticed his eyes were swollen and red and he said they hurt "weally bad!". I gave him a dose of Benedryl and put some eye drops in before his nap. They still weren't looking great when we went to bed that evening and I didn't know what to do! Should I take him back to his swim lessons? Should I take him to the doctor?
I finally decided on taking him back to swim and just talking to Mrs. Tammie first. I figured with as many kids as she deals with that he wouldn't be the only one to have this problem. We went and talked to her as soon as we got there and she told us that because she has so many children in and out of her pool she has to super chlorinate her pool to keep it clean. We determined that he was just having a reaction to that and the rest of the week he would wear goggles! Thankfully that has worked and we have had no more problems!!
We did get a little 10ft Quick Set pool for our house and we have all been enjoying that!! We will eat popsicles or watermelon then hop in the pool for awhile. It really is the best way to keep cool these day!!
Remember the Mennonite neighbors of my parents that I mentioned? Remember I said Mrs. Tammie doesn't take children until they are 3? Well, Gweny is a little fish in the water and I'm afraid that if I wait a whole year she will lose that and possibly develope a fear of the water. Ya know, a lot can happen in a year! So the neighbors have a daughter(Wendy) that is an older teen and she helped Mrs. Tammie teach swim last year. (She is the one that told us about her.) We asked her if she would be willing to work with Gweny this summer. I absolutely cannot wait to see what she learns!!
For Memorial Day this year we went on a little staycation with Nana and Poppy to a town about an hour and a half from us. They have a cute little zoo and Gwen had never been to a zoo. Emmy hadn't been since he was a year old so it was time! We rented a two room hotel suite so that we could all stay together and made sure there was a nice pool!! The kids loved the zoo and made us adults stay longer than we would have chosen to on our own. But watching how excited they were made it totally worth it and we are already planning another trip to a bigger zoo before too long. Any recommendations on the best zoo would be welcome!!
Have a good day!
Much Love💕
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