Swimming Lessons x 4

 In April I signed all four kids up for swimming lessons.  Bree was so excited to actually have a class that she got to participate in like the big kids.  I was excited to see her from a distance, taking directions from someone other than me.  This was the first time all four kids were participating in something at the same time and I could just sit back and watch.  I actually got a half hour to myself twice a week with no one touching me.  It was total bliss.  Until Bree decided she was going to act up.  She and Darcy were in the same level 1 class which had a girl teacher for the first lesson but then a boy took over as the permanent teacher.  She whimpered through most of lesson #2 and was straight up bawling through all of lesson #3.  It was funny though because she would do exactly what the boy asked her to do, she just cried while doing it.  I didn't want to pull her out, I was hoping she would suck it up and be OK but she wasn't.  The lady in charge switched her into a class with a female teacher and she was just fine for the remaining lessons.  It was really fun to watch her interact with her teacher and the other kids.  I don't give her enough credit for being the big girl she is.  She is way more functioning than I usually believe her to be.  But then there were times that the teacher would ask her to do something and she just stared at her blankly.  She kept me smiling the entire time.  Darcy was not thrilled at first when she realized she was stuck with a boy teacher but she composed herself and she ended up having a good time with him and even said she liked him!  That is a big step for Darcy.  She showed some improvement in her water skills by the end of the session, whereas Bree was just there so get wet.

 Drew and Mason were both in the same level 2 class together.  Drew finished advancing to level 3 and Mason stayed in level 2.  Drew is a decent enough swimmer that I won't worry about her in the water by herself, and I doubt I will pay for more lessons for her next year.  She can improve on her own.  Mason finally jumped into the deep pool at the very last session.  He also went down the small slide they had set up on the last day.  Those are big steps for my cautious Mason.  He did great but isn't quite as driven as Drew.  She approaches things with a business like attitude and tries her hardest to master things as quickly as possible.  Mason likes to have a little fun along the way.  Two very different kids.  We only did one session this year, last year we did three.  For three weeks, four nights in a row we had activities at dinner time along with Mason's baseball and it got very old very fast.  We got the basics down and the older kids got a good reminder of swimming mechanics before we set out on our summer trip.  Hopefully we will find lots of opportunities to use their new swimming skills.