Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:40 am Posts: 25451 Location: 111 Archer Ave.
this summer i am teaching 3 and 4 year old group and private swimming lessons. it gets pretty boring if you have a lame kid that doesn't like to leave the steps, but some of the kids say the funniest things. that makes it all pretty entertaining and it keeps me on my toes.
sometimes, a kid will say something that makes me laugh out loud, and i have to stick my face underwater so he/she won't know that i am laughing. today my favorite one, nicholas, was holding on to the kickboard while i had my hand on his back. he's pretty apprehensive and he comes up with a different excuse every single time as to why he shouldn't go this time ("but mr. reid, i's thirsty.", "but mr. reid, i need to feed jackie boy (his baby brother)", "but mr. reid, i'm scared".) i've learned to ignore each of these because sure enough every time he not only does what i ask him to, but he does it better than a lot of the kids.
anyways, today he's on the kickboard and he's kind of nervous so i calm him down by asking him about his favorite things. i ask him what his favorite animal is, and he says "um, um, um...a BABY!"
this doesn't sound that funny when i type it out and read it, but i was completely overtaken by laughter. something about the way he said it and the fact that he always takes care of his baby brother anyway. it was beyond cute. and hilarious.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
My kids (4 and almost 3) are taking those swimming lessons right now. My older one is doing great, and he can really swim now, I'm very proud of him. He swam across the pool at our development (a smallish pool) by himself this weekend and he didn't think he could when we started that day, and now he can roll over on his back himself when he gets tired, which means he can stay afloat as long as he needs.
The younger one is not so good. He's a control freak. He has no fear of climbing a tree or the inside of the refrigerator, but he doesn't like to relinquish control, so even with floaties, he freaks out when I put him in the water and he can't touch bottom. My older one at his age would jump into the pool with floaties, but still won't jump down from 18 inches off the ground. Kids are weird.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:40 am Posts: 25451 Location: 111 Archer Ave.
punkdavid wrote:
My kids (4 and almost 3) are taking those swimming lessons right now. My older one is doing great, and he can really swim now, I'm very proud of him. He swam across the pool at our development (a smallish pool) by himself this weekend and he didn't think he could when we started that day, and now he can roll over on his back himself when he gets tired, which means he can stay afloat as long as he needs.
The younger one is not so good. He's a control freak. He has no fear of climbing a tree or the inside of the refrigerator, but he doesn't like to relinquish control, so even with floaties, he freaks out when I put him in the water and he can't touch bottom. My older one at his age would jump into the pool with floaties, but still won't jump down from 18 inches off the ground. Kids are weird.
this is my second year to teach, and what you are describing seems so common. great for your older kid! that's a really good feeling i bet. from an instructors standpoint (andi owuld imagine a parent's too), it gives me chills when a child doesn't think they can do something and then finally does it for the first time!
i'm glad you are mentioning the control freak thing. it makes me feel not as cruel. through lessons, i am noticing a big difference in crying for attention and crying out of sheer terror. the attention cryers get no sympathy from me, usual more or less get dragged into the water, and when i let go of their boards they DO swim by themselves. over time they get more confident in the water,but they will never learn unless someone has the balls to take them in. at least, that's what i've found. maybe i'm wrong and i am traumatizing a lot of kids.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:15 pm Posts: 25452 Location: Under my wing like Sanford & Son Gender: Male
*Talking to a ten year-old Katrina survivor about weather for his science test*
Me: A hurricane happens when a mass of cool, dry air and a mass of warm, moist air meet, and they start spinning really fast and throwing rain everywhere and stuff. Kid: That's cool! Me:...really? Kid: Oh yeah...(thinks)...yeah, that's still cool.
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