Swim lessons and the not so Superbowl

So I originally wrote this post just a few days after the Superbowl ended, when the sting of the loss was still quite palpable at our house. Something went awry and it disappeared. Maybe it was sticky toddler fingers, maybe it was a scatterbrain Mama that didn't save it, maybe it was a ghost-whoever/whatever was the cause, the whole darn post went missing. Boo. We had a busy week and I am just now getting back to it to rewrite it. I am going to make this version a little quicker.

Last weekend was Jack's first swim lesson! We have been talking and talking and planning (new bathing suit, many trips to see the pool at the Y, talking about kicking and blowing bubbles and practicing in the tub) for this for a long time. We tried to dial up the excitement in an attempt at a successful run at a group activity. Jack is very outgoing and friendly, when he wants to be. He can be very shy and clingy to his Mama when he wants to be too. We had no idea how this was going to go. Jack and I arrived early and explored the locker room, got changed and headed to the pool. It was sweltering inside the pool area. Good for my skinny mini in his little swim trunks in February, not so good for me in jeans and a sweater. The water was a very comfy 85 degrees. Jack was excited, I could see it all over his face. He immediately wanted to put his feet in.

He sat patiently waiting for the rest of the class and teacher to arrive, slowly going in a little deeper and deeper. I was shocked that he was in and there were no tears. I was so proud of him. The class started and he lined up with all the other kids on the step (there are 6 of them total, Jack being the youngest at 3). The teacher, Miss Ana, went over kicking (Green light=BIG kicks, yellow light= little baby kicks) and blowing bubbles-blue light. Jack just sat there, taking it all in. He watched the other kids, he watched the teacher, he looked back at Tom and I, but he did not do what she asked. When she took each kid out into the pool to practice, he flatly refused and remained planted on the step. He didn't throw a fit, or cry, he just said "no". You could tell he wanted to be out in the water, but he didn't want to do what the teacher said. My stubborn, strong-willed little boy.  And so this is how the rest of the lesson went. Jack watched and the other kids participated. He slowly inched along the long pool step further and further from the group. All the while one eye on what they were doing and he WOULD mimic them, but in his own space, on his own terms. At the end, Tom was able to coax him to the edge with the teacher where he jumped in and "swam" with her across the pool to Tom. All in all, it WAS a successful first lesson. We just wanted him to not be clinging to us, to stay in the water and NOT to cry. The only tears we saw were when we had to pull him OUT of the pool a half hour after the lesson ended! Classic Jack. 

Since I am rewriting this blog entry more than a week past the Superbowl, I will make this VERY brief. It was a beautiful day with the temperatures reaching well into the 70's. We enjoyed some time in the morning and early afternoon outside playing with the kids and their new ride on toy and Tom and I both enjoyed going for a run. I even shaved a minute off of my mile time since I last ran outside. I was SO excited! I guess going to the gym almost everyday, DOES work. HA. We entertained one of Tom's friends and colleagues Alex for the game, had some great food, enjoyed the commercials and then IMMEDIATELY turned the TV off after the Patriots lost. Tom handled the loss a lot better than in the past. Onto baseball I guess! 

Had to add this image because I thought he looks just SOO SOO cute!