- Five dresses. FIVE. I am not a dress person. Every time I buy a cute summer sundress in Hawaii I come back to LA and think, "This dress is tiny and strapless. I have no business walking around with a strapless bra on anymore." And the dress gets shuttled away to the back of the closet. But this time? All I can think is that if I only have to worry about putting on one garment each day, that's, like, two other garments that I don't need to worry about putting on. And so the dresses are coming out to play. I can wear a bathing suit underneath them, and if the suit is dirty, well, Hawaii is just going to have to deal with either visible bra straps or my unsupported bosoms.
- A carseat that has a telescoping handle and so doubles as a stroller. File this under "things I never knew existed and will use probably once."
- An iPad containing thirty episodes of "Yo Gabba Gabba" and also, for good measure, "Bubble Guppies."
- Just say that out loud. "Bubble Guppies."
- A bag filled with cheap, tacky crap, the sole purpose of which is to amuse a toddler for ten precious minutes at a time. Said cheap items include a booklet of Lisa Frank stickers, a yo-yo, a set of plastic car keys with Disney princesses on them, and Post-Its.
- A base tan, because my old philosophy of staying the hell out of the sun has been difficult to maintain this summer.
- An attitude of grim determination as I ready myself for a five-hour plane flight, which I'm POSITIVE will be followed by ten days of sheer bliss as Scott, Sadie, Yayo, Yaya, Auntie Kate and I enjoy spending time together in paradise.
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Packing
Things I'll be taking with me on our Hawaii vacation this time around that I have never taken with me on previous trips:
Monday, July 11, 2011
Water Baby
It's been a pretty hectic last couple of weeks. We've been thrown headlong into the terrible twos -- which feels pretty damn unfair, considering that Sadie's still almost three months away from actually turning two. We can only hope this means that by 2 1/2, she'll have gotten over the hump and transformed into an emotionally stable young lady. Which I'm so sure will happen.
I am finding myself lacking in the energy needed to catalog the many tantrums that we've weathered recently, and they're probably not too interesting to hear about anyway, so I'll stick to the positive stuff.
Sadie likes water.
No, seriously. If this summer has taught us anything, it's that our child has an almost alarming love of large bodies of water. Whereas my greatest fear used to be that my child would choke to death on a grape while I was distracted by something funny on television, my fear is now that she will sneak out in the middle of the night for some moonlight swimming in our neighbor's pool. Which is why we ordered her a "float suit" off Amazon.
We've taken her to swim class several times now; each time the only problem has been trying to keep her out of the pool before class starts, and removing her from it after class has ended. The first two classes, she was content to float around in our arms, splashing and pretending to kick.
I say "pretend" because this is what happens when you instruct Sadie to kick:
Me: Sadie, kick! Kick your legs! Kickkickkickkickkick!
Sadie: *halfheartedly kicks one leg*
As Scott pointed out, she has no incentive to keep kicking. It's not like if she stops, we're going to drop her.
Once you've taken a couple of warm-up classes, the instructors require kids to put their heads under water. I don't remember much about being a very young kid, but I do remember this: putting my head underwater for the first time was terrifying. Because of this, the instructors tried to ease us into it by teaching us to dip first our chins in, then to blow bubbles with our lips, then FINALLY work up to dampening the rest of the face. For big wusses like me, the process took weeks.
At this school, there is no working up. You just dunk them, and that's that. Ava, a girl in Sadie's toddler group who loved swimming until the fateful 3rd class, got dunked and now won't get anywhere near a pool. "No more swim classes for us," her mom told me, sighing and shaking her head.
Yet when the instructor approached us and showed me how to dunk Sadie, I resolved to give it a try. If anything, Sadie is too comfortable around water. Scaring her would be difficult, but it would teach her the important lesson that water can be dangerous -- and maybe it would stop her from hurling herself into pools every time she saw one.
I gripped her by her upper arms, facing me, and swam backwards while pulling her forwards. On a count of three I told her, "We're going under, close your mouth!" She completely ignored me, her mouth hanging open like a fish. I dunked her anyway. One...two...
When I pulled her up, her eyes were huge. She coughed and sputtered as the instructor showed me how to raise one arm, which apparently helps clear the water somehow. I waited for the screaming -- but it didn't come. Instead, she whined briefly, and then...she smiled.
And that was that. We went under maybe a dozen times. Each time, she ignored my instructions and kept her mouth open, ending up with a faceful of dirty pool water. Each time, she burst up blinking and shocked, like she couldn't believe what had just happened, then instantly recovered and got ready to do it again.
Tantrum? Oh sure, there was a tantrum. When I tried to get her out of the pool, at the end of class. So much for teaching her respect for water.
Since then, we've gone to the beach and we've gone, twice, to the public pool at the park nearby our house. If you asked me to write a list of places I felt comfortable saying I'd never need to visit during my lifetime, "the public pool" would fall right between "a train station in India" and "the men's bathroom at the beach in Santa Monica." Now, having been there, I can say, THANK GOD FOR THE PUBLIC POOL. They've got a little wading area for young kids, with a fountain and a foot of water in it, and we spent the majority of this past weekend there.
We know now that swimming lessons for our water baby will be crucial. I'm thrilled that she loves water as much as she does -- her dad and her grandfather share the same love, and when she gets older they will swim, bodysurf, snorkel and even scuba together. But for now she's just a skinny little toddler who has no fear of jumping in the deep end.
I am finding myself lacking in the energy needed to catalog the many tantrums that we've weathered recently, and they're probably not too interesting to hear about anyway, so I'll stick to the positive stuff.
Sadie likes water.
No, seriously. If this summer has taught us anything, it's that our child has an almost alarming love of large bodies of water. Whereas my greatest fear used to be that my child would choke to death on a grape while I was distracted by something funny on television, my fear is now that she will sneak out in the middle of the night for some moonlight swimming in our neighbor's pool. Which is why we ordered her a "float suit" off Amazon.
We've taken her to swim class several times now; each time the only problem has been trying to keep her out of the pool before class starts, and removing her from it after class has ended. The first two classes, she was content to float around in our arms, splashing and pretending to kick.
I say "pretend" because this is what happens when you instruct Sadie to kick:
Me: Sadie, kick! Kick your legs! Kickkickkickkickkick!
Sadie: *halfheartedly kicks one leg*
As Scott pointed out, she has no incentive to keep kicking. It's not like if she stops, we're going to drop her.
Once you've taken a couple of warm-up classes, the instructors require kids to put their heads under water. I don't remember much about being a very young kid, but I do remember this: putting my head underwater for the first time was terrifying. Because of this, the instructors tried to ease us into it by teaching us to dip first our chins in, then to blow bubbles with our lips, then FINALLY work up to dampening the rest of the face. For big wusses like me, the process took weeks.
At this school, there is no working up. You just dunk them, and that's that. Ava, a girl in Sadie's toddler group who loved swimming until the fateful 3rd class, got dunked and now won't get anywhere near a pool. "No more swim classes for us," her mom told me, sighing and shaking her head.
Yet when the instructor approached us and showed me how to dunk Sadie, I resolved to give it a try. If anything, Sadie is too comfortable around water. Scaring her would be difficult, but it would teach her the important lesson that water can be dangerous -- and maybe it would stop her from hurling herself into pools every time she saw one.
I gripped her by her upper arms, facing me, and swam backwards while pulling her forwards. On a count of three I told her, "We're going under, close your mouth!" She completely ignored me, her mouth hanging open like a fish. I dunked her anyway. One...two...
When I pulled her up, her eyes were huge. She coughed and sputtered as the instructor showed me how to raise one arm, which apparently helps clear the water somehow. I waited for the screaming -- but it didn't come. Instead, she whined briefly, and then...she smiled.
And that was that. We went under maybe a dozen times. Each time, she ignored my instructions and kept her mouth open, ending up with a faceful of dirty pool water. Each time, she burst up blinking and shocked, like she couldn't believe what had just happened, then instantly recovered and got ready to do it again.
Tantrum? Oh sure, there was a tantrum. When I tried to get her out of the pool, at the end of class. So much for teaching her respect for water.
Since then, we've gone to the beach and we've gone, twice, to the public pool at the park nearby our house. If you asked me to write a list of places I felt comfortable saying I'd never need to visit during my lifetime, "the public pool" would fall right between "a train station in India" and "the men's bathroom at the beach in Santa Monica." Now, having been there, I can say, THANK GOD FOR THE PUBLIC POOL. They've got a little wading area for young kids, with a fountain and a foot of water in it, and we spent the majority of this past weekend there.
We know now that swimming lessons for our water baby will be crucial. I'm thrilled that she loves water as much as she does -- her dad and her grandfather share the same love, and when she gets older they will swim, bodysurf, snorkel and even scuba together. But for now she's just a skinny little toddler who has no fear of jumping in the deep end.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Summer Plans
I used to secretly judge parents who lined up nonstop classes and activities for their very young kids. I used to secretly judge parents for a lot of things, come to think of it.
But now, being the primary guardian of a toddler, I do so no longer. Kids this age are very active, require constant supervision, have nonexistent attention spans, and will burn through every toy in the house and begin whining with boredom by 9am.
I didn't realize just how reliant I was on organized activities for Sadie until last week's toddler group. The director reminded us that beginning in July, they will institute a pay-per-class option until the fall semester begins in September. We've opted out of the pay-per-class, since there are plenty of cheaper options out there and her spot in the fall toddler program is already reserved, so we don't need to worry about her losing her spot.
What I do need to worry about is how I'm going to fill a new blank spot in our schedule: Friday afternoons. "Winging it" is not an option, I'm sorry -- the park has already lost its appeal, and if we stay home all day then we both wind up wanting to kill each other.
So, for anyone interested, here are a few of the classes and activities I'm going to be doing with my under-two-years-old daughter this summer. No mockery allowed.
Gymboree
Ah, Gymboree. I've avoided you for so long, and now that I've finally caved, I can see that you are going to be like sweet, sweet crack for both me and my child. Gymboree involves a giant, padded, multi-room playspace and a teacher named Roxanna who speaks with an EXTREMELY LOUD VOICE and SINGS EVERYTHING AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS. She instructs the children LOUDLY for about 45 minutes, as they climb stairs, throw balls, play with bubbles and shake a big, colored parachute around. Remember those parachutes from when you were a kid? I'm glad to see they're still around. Oh, she also shakes a frightening little clown hand puppet named "Gymbo" in the faces of frightened children.
Swim Class
I refuse to think of this as a "class," and it's definitely not a "lesson." It is, however, held at a swim school. It's pretty much just a bunch of moms in a pool, holding their kids' heads above water and instructing them to kick. Sadie couldn't care less about the kicking part (She's all, "what are you gonna do if I don't kick? Drop me? I don't think so.") but she adores being in the water, and a mere half hour of pool time exhausts her for the rest of the morning. So this is a definite once a week "do."
Library Storytime
We've actually been doing this for the past six months. It's a reliable time-killer, with a librarian leading maybe a dozen kids in stretches, songs and book-reading. The library is right next to the park, so on the days when Sadie doesn't feel like sitting in one spot for 30 minutes, we can escape to a place where she can stretch her legs, run around and pick up one communicable disease or another.
I've also begun compiling a list of non-organized activities that are fun to do, but require more time management and attention, since there's no teacher or instructor taking charge of things. For now, they include Kidspace, the Zimmer Museum, and the LA Zoo. AKA places I never had any interest in going until the day I gave birth.
But now, being the primary guardian of a toddler, I do so no longer. Kids this age are very active, require constant supervision, have nonexistent attention spans, and will burn through every toy in the house and begin whining with boredom by 9am.
I didn't realize just how reliant I was on organized activities for Sadie until last week's toddler group. The director reminded us that beginning in July, they will institute a pay-per-class option until the fall semester begins in September. We've opted out of the pay-per-class, since there are plenty of cheaper options out there and her spot in the fall toddler program is already reserved, so we don't need to worry about her losing her spot.
What I do need to worry about is how I'm going to fill a new blank spot in our schedule: Friday afternoons. "Winging it" is not an option, I'm sorry -- the park has already lost its appeal, and if we stay home all day then we both wind up wanting to kill each other.
So, for anyone interested, here are a few of the classes and activities I'm going to be doing with my under-two-years-old daughter this summer. No mockery allowed.
Gymboree
Ah, Gymboree. I've avoided you for so long, and now that I've finally caved, I can see that you are going to be like sweet, sweet crack for both me and my child. Gymboree involves a giant, padded, multi-room playspace and a teacher named Roxanna who speaks with an EXTREMELY LOUD VOICE and SINGS EVERYTHING AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS. She instructs the children LOUDLY for about 45 minutes, as they climb stairs, throw balls, play with bubbles and shake a big, colored parachute around. Remember those parachutes from when you were a kid? I'm glad to see they're still around. Oh, she also shakes a frightening little clown hand puppet named "Gymbo" in the faces of frightened children.
Swim Class
I refuse to think of this as a "class," and it's definitely not a "lesson." It is, however, held at a swim school. It's pretty much just a bunch of moms in a pool, holding their kids' heads above water and instructing them to kick. Sadie couldn't care less about the kicking part (She's all, "what are you gonna do if I don't kick? Drop me? I don't think so.") but she adores being in the water, and a mere half hour of pool time exhausts her for the rest of the morning. So this is a definite once a week "do."
Library Storytime
We've actually been doing this for the past six months. It's a reliable time-killer, with a librarian leading maybe a dozen kids in stretches, songs and book-reading. The library is right next to the park, so on the days when Sadie doesn't feel like sitting in one spot for 30 minutes, we can escape to a place where she can stretch her legs, run around and pick up one communicable disease or another.
I've also begun compiling a list of non-organized activities that are fun to do, but require more time management and attention, since there's no teacher or instructor taking charge of things. For now, they include Kidspace, the Zimmer Museum, and the LA Zoo. AKA places I never had any interest in going until the day I gave birth.
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