Summer is coming, my favorite time of year. My kids have a mere 8 weeks of school left! I am probably just as excited as they are. Our vacation plans are going to take up a huge chunk of our break this year. We'll be spending a couple weeks on a beach vacation in the thumb, and then we'll be taking our epic road trip to Washington and Idaho. Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in a couple shorter trips as well. As always, I'm ambitious and optimistic when it comes to planning. In my mind we have lots more time than we actually have to get everything done that I've been dreaming about since last summer.
Even though we'll be traveling a lot, we'll still have quite a bit of time to do all the other fun summer activities that we love. Like going to parks, visiting with friends, and staying in our pj's all day. One thing I know we'll be doing a lot of is swimming. We'll be swimming on vacation every chance we get, but we'll also be visiting local pools and my father-in-law's backyard as much as we can. Last year was great because Connor overcame his fear of the deep end and mustered up the courage to jump off the diving board, which he now loves. This year's goal will be to get Lucy swimming without a flotation device. Maybe we'll even do a couple weeks of lessons at the beginning of the summer to give her a little jump start.
Last year we got a small pool for our backyard. It's just big enough for all of us to get in and cool off, but not deep enough to do any real swimming. However, sometimes the convenience of going out the back door to cool off and play in the pool instead of having to drive someplace else to do it, just can't be beat. We haven't decided if we're going to put it up again this year. One factor to consider is the expense of keeping it going, including electricity and supplies. Doheny is an online retailer selling discounted pool supplies. If we do decide to use our little pool this summer, we will definitely look into purchasing our supplies from this website.
I am so excited to get our summer under way! Do you have any special plans for summer? Does your family love to swim? Where do you swim - in your own backyard, a local park, or a private club?
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Connor the Conqueror
Connor is sometimes a tough egg to crack. I understand him pretty well because we're a lot alike. Trying new things can be scary. Fear can be paralyzing. I get this all too well.
A couple weeks ago, Connor was pretty much terrified of the deep end of the swimming pool. Getting Connor to face and conquer his fears is a challenging feat, but sometimes necessary because we want him to feel a sense of accomplishment and to do things we know he'll enjoy once he stops being afraid.
Connor's always loved the water, in a safe way. As in, being able to touch the bottom or being held or being in a floaty or sitting on the steps. He didn't take very well to swimming lessons. But in the last year or two we convinced him to start swimming underwater to get him more comfortable, which he loved...in the shallow end. This summer we vowed we'd get him swimming for real. And lo and behold, he started swimming. In the shallow end.
Swimming in the deep end was the next step. We gently encouraged him and pushed him to try. Chris's dad has a big pool that's 10 feet deep. He told Connor he'd pay him $20 each way if he'd swim back and forth across the deep end. Connor doesn't forget much especially if it involves the promise of 40 bucks. I'm sure he was thinking about that money every time he went swimming.
Just over a week ago we invaded my father-in-law's house on a Sunday afternoon with a bunch of extra kids. And Connor earned his $40. We were ecstatic! We surpassed our goal of getting him to swim this summer - he is now swimming in the deep end like a pro.
But we didn't stop there. Right away we started badgering him (gently) to jump off the diving board. His response was pretty much "no way!" But we're persistent and we know our kid. We knew he would love to conquer the diving board. So this past Sunday we invaded my father-in-law's house yet again, this time with even more kids. Chris walked him out on the diving board, just so he could get the feel of it. And Connor said, "I'm gonna do it!" He let go of Chris's hand and jumped off the diving board. Now we can't keep him off the diving board or out of the deep end.
Overcoming fear is hard, but Connor did it. We knew all along that he could.
A couple weeks ago, Connor was pretty much terrified of the deep end of the swimming pool. Getting Connor to face and conquer his fears is a challenging feat, but sometimes necessary because we want him to feel a sense of accomplishment and to do things we know he'll enjoy once he stops being afraid.
Connor's always loved the water, in a safe way. As in, being able to touch the bottom or being held or being in a floaty or sitting on the steps. He didn't take very well to swimming lessons. But in the last year or two we convinced him to start swimming underwater to get him more comfortable, which he loved...in the shallow end. This summer we vowed we'd get him swimming for real. And lo and behold, he started swimming. In the shallow end.
Swimming in the deep end was the next step. We gently encouraged him and pushed him to try. Chris's dad has a big pool that's 10 feet deep. He told Connor he'd pay him $20 each way if he'd swim back and forth across the deep end. Connor doesn't forget much especially if it involves the promise of 40 bucks. I'm sure he was thinking about that money every time he went swimming.
Just over a week ago we invaded my father-in-law's house on a Sunday afternoon with a bunch of extra kids. And Connor earned his $40. We were ecstatic! We surpassed our goal of getting him to swim this summer - he is now swimming in the deep end like a pro.
But we didn't stop there. Right away we started badgering him (gently) to jump off the diving board. His response was pretty much "no way!" But we're persistent and we know our kid. We knew he would love to conquer the diving board. So this past Sunday we invaded my father-in-law's house yet again, this time with even more kids. Chris walked him out on the diving board, just so he could get the feel of it. And Connor said, "I'm gonna do it!" He let go of Chris's hand and jumped off the diving board. Now we can't keep him off the diving board or out of the deep end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)