Swim Lessons + Movies = Momma Dreams

Swimming lessons and taking my kids to the movies are a few things my momma dreams are made of! When I would sit there for years during our struggle with infertility, these were things I would dream of. So blessed to be able to experience them now.

(Yes, he has dinosaurs with him - we can't make it many places without them)

We took Noah to the movies when he was one and he made it about 45 minutes - once the snacks were gone, he was done. He was climbing all the seats and even tried to get in a strangers lap! So, we made a graceful exit. Over the last 2 years since then, Noah's attention span has gotten a lot better and he loves "watching moodies" :) So, when I saw Monsters University was coming on I thought it was time to try it again. I saw Monsters Inc. in the theater and thought it was kind of "full-circle" to take Noah to see the prequel. I didn't dare try to take Ryan - not only was it past her bedtime, but it would have taken away for the experience for Noah. So, this was a special day for him with Momma and Dada. When we walked in the theater, the line was longer than I have ever seen it! Nathan went to get tickets while Noah and I got in the concession stand line - which was equally as long. I was afraid I was going to get popcorn and drinks and he would get to the front of the ticket line and they would be sold out! Luckily, he got tickets and took Noah in to find one of the last few open seats while I got our food.

Noah was an angel for the first hour. Sat quietly and ate his snacks. The last 45 minutes he did good - but we had to go potty twice (one time he announced loudly "gotta poop" twice before I could get him out the door) and he wanted to sit in my lap, the Nathans, then his seat, then mine, etc. But, he made it without throwing a fit. I was very proud of him. It is not something we will be doing with him a lot right now, but I do plan on taking him a lot when he is older. Both mine and Nathan's parents took us to the movies a lot as kids - something we both have fond memories of and plan to do with our children as well.

As I have mentioned before, Nathan cannot swim. I won't name names, but he isn't the only one who cannot swim in his family. So, I have been adamant to get Noah as comfortable as possible in the water hoping he will be a good swimmer when he gets older. This was his third year for swim lessons. We had to go to a new place this year. The first two years we did them through the Red Cross in our town, but the pool they usually do them in has been closed and the new pool will not open in time for lessons here this year. I was told last year about the London School of Aquatics - an indoor pool that holds lessons about 20 minutes away. It was more expensive than Red Cross but it was a 2 kids to one teacher ratio and indoor - meaning air conditioning, no sun screen, and we can't get rained out.

I read the handout and it said if the child cannot touch or is not willing to work with the instructor the parent will have to get in too. So, since Noah had always had me in the water with him, and he couldn't touch, I assumed I would have to get in with him. So, we waited in the waiting room and when class was starting they called Noah out there. My sweet little 3 year old goes running out by the pool, so of course - I went chasing after him. I got him down to the end he was supposed to be at and he said "don't want to swim" so I was trying to talk him into it and he was not having it. The teacher told me "I bet if you go back to the waiting room, he will be fine". I look around and of course I am the only mom out there (but in my defense, Noah was the youngest kid getting lessons - the other kids were all 5-7). I told the teacher "I am that mom right now huh?" She smiled. I told her that I would be more than happy to get in with me and to let me know. So, I went back to the waiting room (with no way to see what is going on) to wait until the last 15 minutes of class when parents can watch. I could hear him screaming, so I just knew they were going to want me to come out any minute - then it got quiet and I looked out and he was doing fine. I wasn't a big fan of not being able to see the first 30 minutes of his lessons - but the last day was family day and we could watch the whole lesson and I saw why I did not need to be out there - he could not focus with me out there. He was not doing anything he was supposed to. His teacher said he was fine all week and he was just doing that because I was watching. Kids just like to do that when their parents are around for some reason.

Graduation :)

I feel like he did learn a lot. His teacher said he was a little scared the first two days but by the third day he was acting like there were sharks in the water and telling everyone to hurry up and swim! He didn't pass Level 1 swimming, which I didn't figure he would - but he got a participation certificate. The teacher said he couldn't do a few things that he was doing last year - like going under and floating with my help - but I am sure each instructor does things differently. I plan to get him in the water as much as possible and work on his swimming. Who knows - we may have a future Clarksville Sea Dragon :)