Sydney was taking water survival lessons last week. Now, this is not just any regular swim lesson. It's hard core and truly designed to teach kids survival skills if they fall into a body of water. I was given similar instruction when I was just six months old and have spent my life in the water... from recreation in rivers, lakes and the ocean to competitive swimming. My sisters and I have even been known to swim in a mud hole or two left by deep tractor-tire tracks. I love the water and want my kids to love it as well. But they also need to respect it and learn the basics at a young age. Sydney didn't like doing the work - it was hard and she cried a lot - but she learned how to roll over and float if she ever falls in and that was the goal. Scroll to the bottom for more info on that.
But back to logistics. Her lessons were at 11am every day. She is in daycare every day and has a pretty structured schedule. Lunch is at 11am and naptime begins around 11:45. Hmmm. Fitting a 30 minute water lesson in the middle of that was going to be tricky.
Each day, I picked Sydney up roughly 15 minutes before her lesson (the lessons were less than a half mile from her school), fed her a snack in the car and changed her into her bathing suit in the back when we arrived. Immediately after her lesson, I dried her off and put her back into dry clothes from the rear of the van (dare I say I do love my mini van - gasp!) while also feeding her lunch. She continued to eat lunch on the very short drive back to school. I urged her to finish lunch while sitting in the parking lot and whisked her back into school at 11:50am just in time for nap. Whew. Mission accomplished. It's a wonder she didn't puke.
She really was a trooper. That was a tough schedule for a 20 month old but she handled it beautifully. I am amazed and so very thankful for her adaptability.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... we operated like a well oiled machine.
And then it happened.
Thursday's schedule was full. After Sydney's lesson I was supposed to go downtown to help a friend, get to the gym for pilates and prepare dinner for guests coming that night. The schedule was hanging by a thread anyway - then Mother Nature decided to mess with me.
Mid-week, the weather turned terribly overcast and cooler than anticipated. The host pool where her lessons were held got a little too cool for comfort, so Thursday morning I got a call from the instructor that we were moving to her heated pool - 20 minutes north! Oh Lord help.
Something was going to fall through the cracks for sure. I did my best to prep for dinner that morning then headed out to get Sydney for her lesson, playing it by ear, ready to adjust as needed.
Lesson finished and as I anticipated, Sydney was fast asleep in the car in less than 5 minutes. I could either A) take her home and hope that she would finish her nap there (not going to happen) or B) I could just keep driving downtown to visit and help out my friend. She was guaranteed to get about a 50 minute nap in the car under that scenario so option B it was!
She had a great car nap, got a fun girls trip to Target and a quick lunch. Then back in the car and to daycare for an afternoon of learning and play. I managed to get to the gym for a quick pilates lesson then picked up the kids and raced home to finish dinner.
I was feeling like a champ! We had accomplished every single to-do item for the day, the house looked decent, dinner was under control and even got the kids bathed.
Our guests - a former colleague of Pat's from Louisiana and his wife - arrived around 6:30 as we were sighing in relief and sitting down for the first time. I was putting out some delicious empanadas they brought when I heard them say, "Oh, no thank you, we are so full from dinner."
I'm sorry. What? Surely I didn't hear that right. You already ate dinner?
I can only imagine the look I gave Pat at that point. We Fletcher girls are known for some a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words kind of looks. I'm sure mine was some classic combination of fury, exasperation and bemusement.
We just sort of laughed as I headed into the kitchen to turn off the stove and oven. We finally sat down - at our new dining room table by the way - around 9:30pm with our over-cooked and re-heated dinner. And had a good laugh then.
To celebrate the week of logistics and Sydney's hard work in the pool, I kept her home after her lesson on Friday for an insanely long nap, some fun girl time and ice cream treats.
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In case you missed some of the fun pics and video of Sydney's water lessons on Facebook, here they are.
Important side note... we took Sydney to the pool this weekend to remind her it's fun and not always hard work. She clearly has no scarring from her lessons - she excitedly exclaimed "ool! ool!" - Sydney speak for pool - from the backseat of the car when we arrived, went running into the water the moment we got there and had to be dragged away kicking and screaming hours later because she was having so much fun.
And if you're interested in lessons for your child, here is the link to Glendy's Waterbabies.
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