May 18, 2010

End of School Blues

Today is the last day of preschool. Tomorrow we begin summer break. This is a good thing because our calendar will clear up. This is a bad thing because.... our calendar will clear up.
My daughters are under the impression that they should be entertained every waking minute. They don't believe in down time. They don't believe in resting. They don't believe in naps. They believe in going, going, going until you drop.
We have a zoo membership and I plan to put it to good use this summer. I've actually managed one solo trip with them and it went well. They listened. They stayed with me. When it was time to go no one threw a fit. They've figured out that we have a "special ticket" which allows us to go to the zoo any time we want, so we don't have to see every single animal in one trip.
We also are fortunate enough to have a neighborhood pool. I have decided to take it upon myself to teach them how to swim. I know... I'm crazy. I really wanted to enroll them in swim lessons. Unfortunately, the weekday lessons are only offered in the evenings, which isn't doable for us. The weekend lessons are only offered in the mornings, when I have to work. I took every level of swim class my local pool offered growing up and I passed a Red Cross lifeguard class, so I think (I hope) I'm up for the challenge of teaching them how to swim. I just want them to get the basics this summer and this seems like the only way it's going to happen.
Remember when I said our calendar was going to clear up when school ended? I guess I was wrong!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Learning to swim is a good life skill and it may save their lives one day. I wholeheartedly agree with it. Zoo is fun. Our local zoo also has things for the kids to do. Maybe something will fit your schedule.

Quadmama said...

The last time we went to the zoo we got to watch the sea lions practice for an upcoming show... it was pretty fun to see.

MaryAnne said...

Good luck with the swim lessons! I'll be enrolling my kids at some point; no chance to teach them myself as I never learned properly myself...

Quadmama said...

I think I'll be happy if I can teach them the doggy paddle... I still hope to put them in real lessons one of these summers.

reanbean said...

We just sent in the membership form to our local zoos. I can't wait for our card to come. It will definitely be nice to just pop in from time to time and not have to worry about getting our money's worth out of every visit.

I'm so impressed with your desire and willingness to teach your girls to swim. I hope you all have a lot of fun in the pool this summer!

Quadmama said...

There's no way I'm going to convince them to stay in the baby pool this summer, so I figure I've got to get the basics down in hopes that we can enjoy the big pool.

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