Like A Fish?

We finished fall swim lessons today.  Jay and I were pleased that the kids pushed their way through them.  I guess our definition of success is different from some people's.  No one passed off their level.  Not one of our kids went off the diving board, the supposed reward at the end of a month of lessons.  William and Tessa barely got their hair wet, as a matter of fact.   But we were happy, for several reasons:

 - No one cried.  Our kids don't love swimming.  We go a few times a year but no one gets that excited about it.  This bout of swim lessons was not met with any kind of enthusiasm except from Tessa, who for some reason insists that she loves swimming even though she refuses to do much more than blow bubbles in the water.  So to make it through 5 lessons with minimal complaining and no crying was an accomplishment in and of itself.

- Henry showed real improvement.  He didn't pass off Level 3, but only because he didn't jump or dive into the deep water.  He is actually pretty good at swimming across the pool and he enjoys playing in the water as long as he is able to touch the bottom.   He tried but didn't succeed at the diving part of his level.  Honestly, I don't care about that.  He'll probably retake Level 3 at some point but as long as he can swim around in some fashion, I'm pretty happy.

- William and Tessa went and tried.  That's about all we can ask of them at this point.  Tessa actually fancies herself quite the swimmer, although she doesn't do much more than get towed around the water by her teacher.  William is so tense; his main problem is his anxiety about swimming.  William is an anxious kid in general, though, so he did OK knowing him and his background and approach to swimming.  To give you an idea, as we were walking into the Rec Center this morning he told me he'd rather swim in the sewer.  Nice, huh?

After swim lessons they were all smiles.  William was invited to a birthday party so I dropped him off and took Henry and Tessa to purchase their celebratory Wii games; William wants a Wii game that is out in two weeks so we'll get it then.  Why Wii games?  We promised the kids that if they went to swim lessons with good attitudes and tried their best they would get Wii games as a reward.  Yes, we bribed our children with video games to go swimming.   Between the cost of the lessons and the cost of the games, this turned out to be an expensive exercise in.....what?  I'm not quite sure.  Perseverance, maybe? 

Either that or the power of a good incentive.

The Peanut Gallery

Tessa wandered down into the basement this morning while I was exercising.  I alternate between walking on our treadmill and doing some light weights/Pilates type exercises.  She caught me just as I was starting some lunge/squat type things that really kill my legs, so I mentioned to her that I hated doing these particular exercises because I find them hard.

She sat on a bench and watched me until I got to the fourth rep and said, "Do you hate them yet, Mom?"  I nodded and kept going, counting silently.  A few reps later she said, "Wow, you really do hate them, don't you?  I can tell." 

And I was only on 10.  I really need to make sure she's occupied before I start exercising.

S is for Smart Aleck

Every week we get a progress report home from William's 2nd grade teacher.  It's nice - a quick snapshot on how he's doing with behavior, homework assignments and classroom work.  So far this year, he has received all E's for Excellent in all areas.  Yesterday, however, he had an S (for Satisfactory) in behavior.  In the comment section she had written a note explaining what had happened. 

Last week his regular teacher was gone for four days so they had a substitute.  Apparently on Tuesday William walked into the classroom, saw the substitute and said, "Oh, it's you again."  The substitute teacher talked to him and resolved the issue.  I wasn't happy, however, because I expect my kids to be well-behaved and respectful.  When I asked William about the incident, he swore up and down that he hadn't said it. 

The dilemma - it sounds exactly like something that William would say.  He has a quirky and often sarcastic sense of humor and I'm sure he was trying to be funny but he is still learning about when it is appropriate to manifest his cleverness.    It would be his passive/aggressive way of showing that he wasn't happy that his regular teacher was out of school for another day. When I told Jay about it after the kids were in bed he said the exact same thing -  that it totally sounds like William.  Yet William insists that it wasn't him.  No matter what I said to him, he wouldn't back down.  I ended up having a generic talk with him about showing respect to his teachers at school, even substitutes, and doing a better job of evaluating when it was appropriate to be funny. 

It's not that I don't want to believe him - I do - but I can literally picture William walking into the classroom and spouting out "Oh, it's you again" to a substitute teacher (to say he doesn't do well with transitions and changes in routine is a slight understatement).  Hopefully we'll be back to all E's from now on.  Until his teacher leaves in February to have her baby. Something tells me William won't be too happy about this development either.

Maybe S will stand for Sigh.  Or Save Me.

I Got Nothing

I was perusing a blog that I follow the other day and noticed that the author hadn't updated in a while.  As I really like this blog, I was disappointed and thought, "It's been almost two weeks since the last update."  I then ventured over to my blog and realized that I had likewise not updated for a bit.  Since I'm using this blog both to journal and to keep family and friends updated on the Wrights of Hyde Park and all our exploits, I thought I should make an effort to blog sometime this month.  The problem - I couldn't think of anything to write.

Nothing exciting has been going on here lately.  We are fully ensconced in school and that keeps everyone, including me, busy.  The kids are all doing well.  Henry is in Webelos now - his last year in Cub Scouts.  He is doing well in 5th grade and is working towards completing the requirements to earn the Great American Award.  There are several things that he needs to accomplish; right now he is working on memorizing the Gettysburg Address.  He's plugging along and hopes to complete everything for the award by Parent/Teacher conferences in January.  William is rocking 2nd grade.  He is looking forward to starting Cub Scouts in a few months and getting baptized (December 3rd is the big day - mark your calendars!).  Tessa is settling nicely into kindergarten.  She is learning how to read and spell words and likes her teacher alot.  She is continuing dance lessons this year and has started piano lessons as well.  She doesn't seem interested in playing any sports yet, but we'll see what the summer brings.

All the kids are taking swim lessons on Saturday mornings this fall.  I was so excited to see them offered since this past summer didn't work too well for us getting into swim lessons - between Tessa's broken arm, the stomach flu that hung around for several weeks, and our vacation we just couldn't fit it in.  Unfortunately our kids are the ones who really need the lessons - William and Tessa hate getting their faces wet and just haven't taken to swimming too quickly.  I'm a little worried that when William gets baptized it will literally be Jay dunking him forcefully so as to get his whole body covered.  It could be ugly.  Henry is a bit better - he isn't the best swimmer but he tries and can get himself around OK.  We'll do fall lessons this year and hope that nobody has any limbs encased in plaster during the summer next year.

So, there you have it.  An update.  No funny stories.  Nothing earth shattering to report.  But we're still hanging in there up in Cache Valley.  

I just wish that Schoolhouse Rock had done an episode on the Gettysburg Address.  I loved Schoolhouse Rock as a kid and have some of them on VHS tape.  Henry also has to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution, so I eagerly pulled up the "We the people..." episode on You Tube for him to watch.  He was more interested in the musical version of the Gettysburg Address set to Katy Perry's "Firework".  And no, I'm not joking.  If only I were.