Splishin’ and a Splashin’
Last summer, Tiny and Buba went to the swimming pool for the first time ever. They were about 16 months old.
They appear to be enjoying themselves in the above photos, but I remember that it took a while for them to feel comfortable in the kiddie pool. Tiny was so, so scared the first time we tried to take her in and kept freaking out in the bath tub for a while after that experience. By the time they were both comfortable, summer was over and so was the option to spend time at the pool.
I’d hoped that this year would be different. They both love splashing in the bathtub and even love to put their faces in the water and blow bubbles. I kept telling them how they could do this at the kiddie pool, and they would talk about wanting to go. But during our first visit just a week or so ago, Tiny fell forward while trying to walk in the water. I picked her up within nanoseconds, but she was already completely terrified. She cried and cried, which made Buba cry, and both Tiny and Buba wanted out immediately. Interestingly, Tiny decided to go back in with me and was fine as long as I held her in some way (holding hands while walking, sitting on my lap), but Buba refused to go back in. We’ve been two more times since then, and both kids have become increasingly more comfortable in the kiddie pool. They’ve even allowed T and I to take them into the shallow end of the big pool.
Unfortunately, school will be starting in just over two weeks, and our pool days are numbered. I wonder if we’ll have to go through the whole warming up to the pool process again next summer or if by 3 years old they’ll have lost some of the fear that they had last summer and this summer.
What has been your experience with your own kids and pools? Does this all sound very normal? Or could T and I be doing a better job at teaching them to be comfortable in the water? Have your kids already begun to take swimming lessons? And if yes, what has that experience been like for them and for you?
a reanbean week in review
I’ve been having a tough time with blogging lately. I have plenty to write about, but just can’t find the time in all the busyness of summer. So, here are just a few highlights from this week that I don’t want to forget.
Monday: Our week got off to a great start. Both kids were finally completely free of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, and we headed back to our EI playgroup for the first time in two weeks. The last playgroup we had gone to was the first time both Tiny and Buba were able to handle me being gone for the entire 90 minutes. I was hopeful (but nervous) that they’d allow me to leave again this time. And they did (hooray!). No crying from either of them. I’m so glad that we’re able to keep both kids in, even now that Buba is no longer receiving any EI services. Now I just have to come up with things to do while they’re playing without me. Not a bad position to be in.
Tuesday: We all went to a kiddie craft event hosted by the family group of a neighboring town. (We live right on the boarder of this town, so we belong to this family group as well as our own town’s group.) The event was held in one of the member’s backyard. Both Buba and Tiny had a ton of fun making tissue paper butterflies and even more fun playing on the enormous and elaborate play structure in the yard.
Wednesday: T and I took Tiny and Buba to a free tryout gymnastics class at a gymnastics academy about 20 minutes from our house. Tiny loved, loved, LOVED it, and Buba seemed to enjoy it too. As I was buckling Tiny into her car seat, she said, “Can we go back to gymtastics? I want to do more gymtastics please. I love it! I love it!” (I’m not kidding. That is exactly what she said.) We’ll be joining a nine week class this September. Getting Tiny to understand just how many weeks it is until we go back to “gymtastics” has been difficult.
Thursday: Buba and Tiny went to their first playdate in over two weeks. They were so excited to go to their friend’s house to play. They played inside for a bit, and then we headed outside to play with the sand and water table and splash in the kiddie pool. Tiny got to show off her new swimsuit (a short sleeved one piece suit that Grammy got her- I returned the one I didn’t love), and they all seemed to have fun playing between the rain drops under cloudy skies.
Friday: We all headed back to Grandpa’s pool (his town’s pool and tennis club, where he is a lifetime member) for more swimming with Aunt Dee, who is in town from California for the next week or so. Both Buba and Tiny were much more comfortable in the little pool (which varies from roughly 6 to 24 inches of water), and they even went into the shallow end of the big pool for the first time. They loved climbing the steps in and out (and in and out…) of the water, and Aunt Dee began teaching them how to jump into the pool into her arms and how to float on their backs. They’re not pros yet, but it’s a beginning.
All in all, this week rocked! We’re definitely back into our summer groove.
But It’s Still Summer, Isn’t It?
We’ve done almost no swimming this summer. When T’s school let out on June 22nd, we started talking about taking the kids to “Grandpa’s pool” (the pool and tennis club where Grandpa is a lifetime member), but the conditions were never right. It was too cold, Tiny had an owie, it was too hot and way too humid, I was working, the kids were sick- it just never seemed to work out.
But during the two weeks that we suffered through Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, the kids continued to ask about going to Grandpa’s pool. We told them that they couldn’t go until everyone was healthy again. That day finally came on Friday, and so on Saturday, we finally took the kids to Grandpa’s pool for the first time this summer. And this was when I discovered that Tiny’s swimsuit doesn’t really fit.
I bought it back in March- online from The Children’s Place. It was a little big, but not much and I figured she’d grow a bit in the next few months. I liked it because it had short sleeves (better protection from the sun) and ruffles on the butt (just so cute!)
The suit fits okay as long as it’s dry, but as soon as it gets soaked, the bottom part sags. I had to constantly pull the bottom half up so we wouldn’t get kicked out of Grandpa’s pool for indecent exposure. With the California cousins coming into town on Wednesday, I knew we’d be back at the pool several more times this week, so this afternoon we headed off to the mall in search of a new swimsuit for Tiny,
But of course, there are no swimsuits for sale in August. August is for back to school shopping, and the stores have already put out their fall displays- racks of jeans and cords and long sleeved shirts and sweatshirts. I get that some may want a jump on putting together a killer fall wardrobe for those first weeks back in the classroom, but hey, it’s still summer isn’t it?
T and I dragged Tiny and Buba from store to store (The Children’s Place, Sears, Gymboree, Hanna Andersson, Baby Gap, and Macy’s). Only Gymboree and Sears had swimsuits in Tiny’s size (size 12 months!) and that amounted to three options. We ended up buying a pale pink one-piece from Sears (which cost $5 more than the one I bought in March!) that I don’t love, but that work for the next month. After purchasing the suit, we also checked Kohl’s, Carter’s, and the Disney Store, but none of those stores had any suits left either. I was thinking of making a trip up to Target tomorrow morning, but then I had this conversation with Tiny:
r: What do you think of your new swimsuit?
T: It’s good.
r: Do you love it?
T: I love it (said very unenthusiastically). I piddy sure I don’t need anodur one (she said with a tired grin).
I got the message. She doesn’t want to shop anymore. She doesn’t want to try on any more swimsuits. This one will do. However, when we talked to Grammy about our shopping adventure on the phone after dinner tonight, she said she’d check two more places, and I didn’t tell her not too.