Friday, April 04, 2008

Madi is learning to swim…. So, I promised Madi that I would buy her a goldfish if she would take swimming lessons. I had to bribe her because she is the timid child. The child that sticks her pinky toe in the water before slowly getting in. As opposed to my other child who is balls to the wall wild and never looks back, only forward. Back to Madi though. I was very hesitant to spend the money on swimming lessons and even more so to not only commit my time but my friend’s time as she was putting her little girl in with Madi. I just had this horrible feeling that Madi would freeze up at the first lesson and refuse to get in the water, much less let someone try to convince her to put her head under water. As Madi says – I’ve got some very gray news. (I have no idea what movie that’s from but I’m sure it’s from something.) Swimming Lesson 1 – The very first lesson, not only is she in the water and going under (God bless those goggles), she actually JUMPED in the water. Which is huge! I think the main reason she jumped in was because she was freezing. She couldn’t quit shivering. Her lips were blue and her teeth were chattering uncontrollably. But hey – worth every $1.00 up to that point considering we hadn’t even paid yet. Swimming Lesson 2 – More of the same. Going under, learning how to blow bubbles under water. Swimming Lesson 3 – New coach this time. And boy – was she strict. The first girl was young and had a small child. This woman was like a Nazi. She splashed water in their faces when the girls talked to us. Ashlee and I looked at each other like we were 3rd graders being sent to the principal’s office. But heavens could that Nazi coach teach. Up until now, Madi just couldn’t figure out how to float on her back, hadn’t done anything remotely close to swimming and she cried at the thought of having to dive down to pick up those rings. But by the end of lesson three, she was "swimming" a few feet. Struggling but still. She was floating on her back, somewhat. And with the help of the coach pushing her under water, she came up with the green rings that had for so long been alluding her. That girl is on her way to a beautiful goldfish.