On Wednesdays, we pack up and pull out by 8am.
I can assure you this is no easy feat.
Since it is usually our only weekday in town, we pack a lot of events into this day. The girls have piano lessons from 9-10. I do any shopping I need to do, errands, glasses repairs (*sigh*), doctor appointments, play dates, and so on and so forth. We end the day with the kids at Awana and David and I at our home group. We get home at 10:30pm and wonder what on earth we were thinking when we created this monster called Wednesday.
So. Apparently as I was looking over the Wednesday funtivities, I decided we needed more stuff to cram in there.
Therefore and henceforth, I signed up Handsome Dude for swimming lessons on Wednesdays.
Dude has been looking forward to this ever since his Grams bought him some swimming lessons for his birthday. Dude has been talking about swimming lessons constantly. Dude told all peoples around him about this exciting event. Dude gloated to all his siblings that he would be swimming, and, sadly, they would not. Dude informed everyone that he simply could not wait to swim.
Alas. Dude is a liar.
We arrived at the swim lessons. All was well until I had the audacity to tell Dude that he needed to change into his swimsuit. Apparently, he finds this unacceptable.
It all went downhill from there.
So, there I was, brand new to swim lessons. I have my two boys with me (girls were playing at a friend’s house).
Little Dude is donning his clunky cowboy boots, of which he wears daily, and crying because I won’t let him get in the water.
Handsome Dude is wearing swim trunks that are too big for him. They are hiked up to his rib cage and folded over. He is shaking and cowering and crying that he is too cold and would like to go home.
Helpful, concerned parents of other children kept coming over to try to talk to him. They assured him that the water was warm, that swimming was fun, and that he looked uber handsome in his swim trunks (I cannot tell a lie, he did look quite fetching).
One helpful parent decided to try to come and coax Handsome Dude into the pool, bless her heart.
For the purposes of this blog, we shall call her Gladys. Simply for the fact that Gladys is a fantastic name.
Gladys: Well, hello there, big guy!
*Handsome Dude buries his head into my stomach*
(I cannot blame him. It has pillow-like qualities)
Gladys: I can tell you are a big guy! Are you 6 or are you 7?
*Handsome dude is now completely behind me to get away from Gladys*
No. Handsome Dude is not 6 or 7. He is four and freakishly tall. With uber handsome swim trunks.
Gladys: Well, big guy! You are going to love it! My little girl is in there . . . can you see her? She would like to swim with you.
*Handsome Dude is now crouched on the floor behind the chair, desperately trying to get away from Gladys*
One must wonder if my kids need to get out and see humans more, no?
And so the lesson started. Handsome Dude remained crying and shivering and refusing to participate.
Convenient.
I was at a loss as to what to do. My girls have never, ever acted like that. It totally bugs me that he would not get into the pool.
For 20 minutes, he did this. Finally he would get brave enough to walk near the vicinity of the pool, but then the teacher would foolishly speak to him, and back he would go to crouch and cower and hide.
So, I did what any annoyed parent would do. I bribed him.
Don’t judge me.
And he finally made it into the pool.
Which resulted in everyone clapping and cheering for him. Which, in turn, resulted in me rolling my eyes. Kidding. Kind of.
And wouldn’t you know it, he loved it.
We do, however, need to work on his teacher/student skills.
Teacher: Dude, can you please put on your goggles?
Dude: No.
Teacher: Dude, would you like to come and swim with me?
Dude: No.
Fantastic!
He did, finally, warm up to her and participate. They started to play a game and she asked all the kids questions.
Handsome Dude, cross-eyed from no glasses, raised his hand to answer her.
Teacher: Yes, Dude?
And there he sat. Proud as can be. Hand in the air. Eyes crossed. Saying nothing. Smiling.
Just raising his hand.
Teacher: Yes, Dude?
Nothing. Just raising his hand.
Teacher: Dude? Did you want to say anything?
Nothing. Nope. Nada.
I am not sure if I should homeschool that one. He might already be too far gone.
***
After swim, we picked up cousins and went to hang out at their house. Little Dude and my niece, Little Miss, are about 6 months apart.
Little Miss: My daddy works for stoves!
Little Dude: My daddy-my daddy-my-daddy . . . works ice cream!
Little Miss looks at him like he is crazy.
And rightfully so.
Little Miss: Huh?
Little Dude: Ice cream! Yummy yummy!
Me: Daddy doesn’t work for ice cream.
Little Dude: No, Mom! DAVE works for ice cream.
Oh. Pardon me.
***
In other news that you don’t need to know, I have started to compost.
Just cuz.
I greatly dislike when people spell because, “cuz.” Thoughts?
Alright. After examing this post, I have decided that I am not sure what the point is. Sorry to have wasted your time.
I need to begin packing for camping.
Yes. Please feel bad for me, seeing how it snowed a bit yesterday.
Good news: I shall not have to pack my swimsuit.
Happy Thursday and Happy Birthday to my Dad!
He is obviously getting hipper with age.
Seriously, you win the Daughter-and-Wife-of-the-Year Award for agreeing to camp in April.
I enjoy camping, but I will never compete with that. 🙂
Happy Birthday to your dad!
Your Wednesdays sound completely crazy! I hope that Thursday is restful!
I like exclamation points!
doesn’t it infuriate you when your kids don’t do what you want them to on command?? ggggrrr…. but i must say he was quite fetching in his trunks!! 😉
“Pillow like qualities” almost pee’d myself a little …..and this post I can totally relate to and felt as though I was right there with ya…Did you get all sweaty ??… . Question …..do you think I could opt to keep baby #4 in for awhile longer?? Just checking …
I remember when Noelle was in swimming lessons, it was terrible. Just like Handsome Dude she was super excited until she actually arrived at lessons, then she was super nervous about joining in with the kids. To top it off, she had a nutty teacher who would let her participate unless she jumped into the pool and that was not happening, so after may tears and a wasted $45.00 we quit. 🙂
I paid for a semester of swimming lessons for my oldest one time. ONE time. At the first session, he threw such a bad tantrum at the end that I ended up wrapping him in a towel, throwing him over my shoulder like a sack of potatos, and carrying him through the snowy parking lot dripping wet to the car where I promptly drove him home. We did not ever return to pick up the pretty new towel I had purchased for the special event.
No more swimming lessons for my kids. I figure a one-time investment for a good life jacket is cheaper than several seasons of swimming lessons anyway. Ha!
snow? boo!!
So very jealous of your camping trip! I wish we were camping. We keep trying to, but other stuff comes up.
Don’t stress the swim lessons. My kids have been in swim lessons since they were 6 mos old, and I have seen a lot of kids do swim lessons in that time period–a lot of them do what he did. He’ll get it, and probably love it, I promise. Swimming lessons is a life skill, and so important… he’ll do great, when he’s ready to. It was just new, and he had 300 people looking at him, and talking to him. No wonder he was freaked out, I would have been too. 🙂
I could be wrong, cuz I wasn’t there, (I hate it, too, when people spell because “cuz”. Must be a homeschool mom thing), but I wonder if HD (Handsome Dude. Keep up, people!) would have fared a little better if other well-meaning parents had backed off a little and left well enough alone. Just wondering. : )
I totally agree! 🙂 But they were well-meaning . . .
I’m impressed you didn’t abandon HD or toss him into the water. And I don’t know how you could possibly consider your slender self to have a pillow-like stomach!
Boys are like that. Seriously. It must have something to do with that y chromosome. I can’t remember having trouble with swimming, but I have had similar things happen. I am totally behind you on the bribing thing. I mean, come on. Adults are bribed all the time! A paycheck, for example. Not that I know about that, seeing as how I stay home.
My uber shy child actually does better when I am NOT there. Yes, there is screaming and wailing when I’m walking away, but it has been reported to me that he calms down quickly and participates fully when I am not there. When he can see me, it’s all drama. Having worked with kids for years, I can say that this seems fairly universal (though not completely). Might I suggest you get HD in his trunks and out to his teacher and then “disappear”? And just think, even if he is screaming, you won’t be the one who has to deal with it. Double bonus!
I will pray for you next Wednesday, Taylor. Lol. That sounds like quite the day.
Your Wednesdays sound exhausting. Is Thursday your Saturday cuz I think it needs to be. That c-u-z also annoys me.
One day (if I ever finish this a-z challenge) I will tell one of my camping horror stories-it occurred in during the month of April and girl scouts were involved. The day started with us in shorts and 80 degree temps and ended with snow and a Wizard of Oz kind of wind and oh, very much crying and drama because those girls were the magical age of 12. I hope you have fun and sunny dry skies this weekend. Yay for no swimsuits!
Yeah, you are kinda nuts. Not that I don’t love ya the same, but you are a glutton for punishment. When the weather is consistently nice, you wanna hang out some Wed morning again?
I just popped in here to tell you that Q screamed the whole first lesson. AND HE TRIED TO HIT THE TEACHER, because his “NOOOOOOO! NOOOO!!” was being ignored. It was a proud moment.
Sheldon is no better. He screamed the whole first lesson too. They asked me to move out of sight, so he would stop trying to reach for me and yell “NOOO! MAMA!!!!!”
Good times.
After the third lesson, Q stopped crying. We have yet to go back for round two with sheldon.
I feel so bad that you’re going camping…in the snow. I really really really do.
I mean, you need a hug!
(or some ice cream)
I think Mr. LJ needs to take the kids on a nature walk and let you have a 3 hour nap whilst you are camping. Then I think he needs to bring you flowers and Starbucks and rub your feet for all that you have to contend with… then I think you should smile sweetly and say, ‘Oh honey, have I ever told you Little Dude isn’t yours?”
I will understand completely if you want to delete this comment, sometimes my humor gets away from me…….:-)
In the pic of HD above, he looks EXACTLY like LJ, his ‘smile’ and all…lol! I did swim lessons when I was a kid and was terrified, thinking that those people were hired specifically to make me go under, jump off the diving board, and so forth (so my mom wouldn’t be the bad guy). I thought they were in on it together, very suspicious I was. HAPPY HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO YOUR DADDY! Happy camping….eeeww on the snow…:(
Swimming lessons……they can be most vexing. Kids either take to it like ducks or howl and scream. Hey, Princess Diana bribed young Prince William with “Smarties” ie M&M type things, that she carried in her pocket and look how he turned out! I’m seriously i awe you get out the door with four kids at 8 am. That is some feat!
P.S. I’m starting to compost this year and came across this simple tid bit. It has to be a specific kind of worm, which your husband would probably know where to get, but it’s supposed to make composting way faster.
———————
Get a plastic 5 gallon bucket with a lid. These are cheap at most home centers. If you have a bucket from cat litter or laundry detergent, these will work well too.
– Cut the bottom out of your bucket, and, if you have a large drill bit, drill several 3/4″ to 1″ holes all around the bottom quarter of your bucket. Doing these two things allows your worms to come and go as they please — which is exactly what you want. If you aren’t able to drill holes, it will still work, so don’t let that stop you.
– Place your bucket in your garden bed, sinking the bottom quarter of it down into the soil. Now you can start filling the bucket with kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, crumble egg shells — anything you’d add to a traditional worm bin. Put the lid on, and you’re done.