Riley and Avery

Let me start by saying that there is a HUGE jump between Level I and Level II swimming lessons! I don't think this would have worked if Riley hadn't JUST finished Level I a couple of weeks ago. She would have been overwhelmed. Most of the children in her class are already kind of swimming. Her face is in the water all the time. They are teaching them to push off of the wall and glide unsupported both on the front and back, face in the water, the whole shebang. Unsupported front and back floats too. As soon as the instructor lets go, Riley stands up and doesn't even really try to float. She kind of freaks out. She doing pretty well, though, but MAN they are asking a lot! I totally foresee her being in Level II at least one more time, perhaps even more.

I have to say, though, that Riley is pretty comical when she's trying to swim. Her arms look like chicken wings and her toes are pointed UP, kicking like she's on a bicycle. So funny. But I got to hand it to her, she does, or tries to do, everything asked of her. I couldn't ask for more than that.

Avery, on the other hand, is an official drop-out. The summer classes are rather big, so each class has two instructors. One of Avery's instructors was, OMG! A BOY! Avery would not, under any circumstances, go in her class because of the boy teacher. I felt so bad for the poor boy teacher. Of the two teachers, he is by far the more child-friendly instructor. There is another boy in the class who is having a hard time with lessons and basically the boy teacher sits in the water with him each and every class, gently pouring water on the boys shoulders. The boy teacher is definitely more nurturing. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Avery didn't like him because he's a boy, and that his efforts to warm her up were only going to make things worse. So I surrendered and withdrew her before my secret got out. She is much happier sitting and watching Riley swim. Plus a woman there just had a baby, so she spends a good deal of time looking at all the babies hanging around. And if we're lucky, the water babies class will be going on and she can gush over all the babies and their ruffly-cute bathing suits. It all works out in the end.

Oh, and yesterday, a boy a little younger than Avery took a fall at swimming lessons much like Avery took last month. I tell you, nothing like the unique sound of skin hitting wet concrete to bring back an old trauma that you thought you were over! The boy hit his cheek, though, so no copious amounts of blood like Avery's fall. Just one of those things. Kid standing there one second, and face-first on concrete the next. I tell you, it was like all my neurons were firing at once. I was shaking and my hamstrings were twitching (you know, like when you see your child doing something dangerous at the playground, but developmentally necessary, and you feel like you'll have to spring into action at any moment and the backs of your thighs start tingling?). Geez, get over it, I tell myself, Avery feel WEEKS ago and that was NOT your kid falling! Still...yuck.