Fearless and Friendly

Lily's days of being four are coming to an end. Elementary school here we come. Monday is her birthday. I have been a stay at home mom and Lily has not been away from me very much at all in her life thus far. I have been a little concerned that this would handicap her kindergarten experience, however in the end it has been a wonderful gift for both of us to be able to spend these years together. Now she is more than ready to take the enormous step of independence and venture off on to the school bus to full day kindergarten all on her own. School starts on Aug. 6th here.

Meanwhile, we have been taking swim lessons. We have just completed the third week and we have three more weeks to go and that takes us right up to the week that school starts. School is starting on a Wednesday for some reason. Our first two weeks of swim lessons were in the mommy and me class. They require all kids under the age of five and a half to be in the mommy and me class. Lily was able to demonstrate that she can float on her back and belly and that she is able to hold her breath and put her face in the water, so they promoted her to the next level of swim lessons. We call the class the no-mommy class, but they call it level 1. This past week Lily has been in the pool everyday without her mom. While I was there at the pool I made sure to sit far enough away that I couldn't hear what was going on and gave Lily a little space.

The first few days Lily was a little quiet. While she loved the no-mommy class and excitedly talked of nothing else, she kept to herself for the most part during the lessons. On Friday she was feeling quite confident and her exuberant personality started to be expressed to her teachers and the other kids. That day I ended up sitting very close by her class and was able to hear and see all that was going on. Lily is the best little swimmer in the class. If she only knew what to do with her arms and legs she could be an Olympian. She is not at all afraid of the water and loves to be under water. But, she kicks and moves her arms in ways that are not conducive to going forward. I guess that is what the lessons are for. The other children in the class are a year or so older and most of them do not like the water much at all. They line up at the wall and take turns being helped by the teacher. While waiting at the wall Lily is the life of the party. She is giggling and goofing off with the other boys. Especially this one boy who is quite a bit bigger than her. The two of them were the renegades of the class and even had to be separated. One time the teacher asked the kids to raise their hands if they were listening. Lily and her little friend where the only ones to not raise their hands. While she is technically there at swim lessons to learn to swim, I can't help but be glad she is having the chance to work on her social skills. She appears to have an instinct for socialization and my kindergarten concerns are lessened by the fact that she was able to be comfortable with the teachers and kids in swim lessons in less than a week. Yeah, Lily.

There is an enormous slide at this pool. Last summer and so far this summer the slide was closed for repairs. Last week all the kids got to go down the slide on Friday, in celebration for passing their two week swim lesson session. All the kids except for the little ones in the Mommy and me class. We were then in the mommy and me class and Lily was so upset that everyone got to go down the slide except her. Another mom told me earlier this week that they go down the slide every Friday. I passed this information on to Lily and now that this week she was in the no-mommy class she was so excited that on Friday she would be allowed to go down the slide. This is all she talked about. As the lesson was coming to an end, I noticed that none of the kids in any of the classes were going to the slide. No one was talking about it, no one was lining up. As the clock ticked slowly toward 11:15 I got a knot in my stomach. I knew that there was not going to be sliding at the end of today's lesson. I felt horrid for telling Lily she would be able to go down the slide without having asked the teacher. I knew she was going to be upset.

When 11:15 finally came and the teachers said it was time to go home, Lily climbed up the ladder out of the pool very quickly, stood at the side of the pool and dissolved into tears. She was not throwing a fit so much as crushed. I wrapped her up in the towel and told her how sorry I was. The instructors were beside themselves worried about Lily. What is the matter? I can imagine this extreme change from the laughing, goofing off, life loving girl that they had seen all week to this devastated sobbing girl was a shock. They had no idea what was wrong, did she lose a limb climbing out of the pool? I explained the situation and apologized to Lily again. We all told her next Friday she would get to go down the slide. Her crying was ebbing a little, but she was still ever so sad.

All of a sudden her two instructors decided they would take Lily on the slide. One of them took her to the deep end and helped her climb the stairs to the top of the enormous slide. Usually little kids are not allowed on the slide. You have to be able to swim the length of the pool unassisted to be allowed to use the slide during regular pool hours. But, if you are in swim lessons on every other Friday (I thought it was every Friday) they help the little ones use the slide. Today Lily was the only kid in swim lessons who got go down the slide. She flew out the end of the slide, she was suspended in air for several beats and then went into and under the water. The teacher helped her up and to the side of the pool. I met her there with a towel and thanked then many times. I think it was a little more than Lily expected as she was pretty quiet.

I guess Lily has made an impression on her teachers for them to go to such lengths for her. It was so sweet. Funny too, that they spend the entire lesson trying to get other kids to jump into the water or put their face in the water and here is Lily wanting to fly out the end of the slide into the deep end of the pool. She has wanted to go down that slide since last summer when she first saw it. So wish fulfilled. And Mommy feels so much better about kindergarten knowing that she seems to be doing well interacting with her peers and teachers without my interference. I wonder how she is going to feel about the slide next Friday, will she still want to do it now that she knows?