Katie's First Day At Swimming Lessons

Okay, I just knew this was going to be a typical Monday for me. As you know, I put Katie to bed early last night. I knew this morning was going to kill her, getting up so early. I got up around 6:30 and got ready for the day. I waited until 7:30 before I woke Katie up. By 7:50, I had to go into her room and practically pull her out of the bed and set her on the toilet. She whined and cried the whole time. I've never seen so many different faces all at once within the a minute's time. You talk about, if looks could kill. After she pee-peed in the potty, the next task was getting her off the toilet. Ugh! When I finally got her off the pot, she wouldn't cooperate with me for nothing. I just left her in the hallway, laying on the floor, crying and whining. I started talking up, her going swimming. As much as she loves swimming, I thought this would perk her up just a little. Nope! It wasn't going to happen today. She announced out loud that she wasn't going swimming and she was going to wear a dress, not her swimming suit. She cried and pitched a fit all morning because she didn't feel like going swimming this early in the morning. I was so hoping that she would get better by the time we got there.

I wanted to get to the sport's club a little early, so I could introduce Katie to RuthAnne. Usually, it takes a little while before Katie warms up to strangers. When we got to the pool, RuthAnne was at the end of instructing a little boy. Katie was excited by that time. I was afraid she would jump right in because that's what Leslie was teaching Katie at June and Pat's pool a couple of weekends ago. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait around until Katie warmed up to RuthAnne. She went right to her and got into the water. RuthAnne told me, she'll see me in 30 minutes. Well, okay. That was my cue to be on my way. I wanted to take the camera in with me to take a few pictures, but I was afraid that they wouldn't allow it for security reasons. I got back a little early, so I could take a picture with my cell phone.

RuthAnne said Katie was a fast learner and very athletic. I asked her how it went, it being her first day. RuthAnne said she did really well. The only areas she wants to focus on is getting her to use her arms more and listening. I told her about us trying to teach Katie to kick her legs more. RuthAnne told me that she's got the kicking down pat, now she needs to use her arms. I asked her if it was from the floaties, she's been wearing because I notice with her that she can't move her arms good with them on her. RuthAnne agreed and advised me to throw the floaties away. She suggested a flotation belt or life jacket. I liked the swim belt she had on her because it has several layers of individual foam. As she gets better throughout the years, you can take out a layer of foam at a time. You can't do take with a life jacket. RuthAnne told Katie to show me how to swim. Sure enough, her feet were just a going and she was standing straight up, but her arms stayed right beside her. Then, they practiced pouring water over each other's head. Katie would put her hands over her face until RuthAnne stopped pouring water over her head. I was so proud of my little girl. Katie didn't want to leave, she wanted to play some more in the water. RuthAnne told her that she'll see her again tomorrow. Her eyes lite up and she repeated what RuthAnne said. It was so cute. Out to the truck, Katie kept saying, "Mom, I come and play in the pool tomorrow". Her bad mood this morning turned into smiles this afternoon. I was so relieved.