Chicky and Rooster have taken on a new challenge: lifeguarding classes.
The course runs for seven nights (6 to 10) at our community college.
I figured this would be a neat sibling-bonding experience, and this is exactly what it’s turned out to be!
The first night of class, the Mr. and I anxiously waited for them to get home.
Chicky came in first, loudly announcing, “That was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do. If I was a quitter, I would never go back.”
She then headed to the bathroom to grab a shower.
Rooster came in next and filled us in on the details.
See, although we’ve lived in Florida all of the kids’ lives, Chicky has never been particularly fond of “formal” swimming.
The kids learned to swim right after we moved to Miami. This was the time I got to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom. Needing something to do with two children under the age of four, I took them swimming twice a day.
We would eat breakfast, let our tummies settle, and head out. We went home in time for lunch and a nap. Then, after a snack and a brief tummy-settling time, we headed back out for session #2.
Rooster learned to swim the summer he turned two, with Chicky learning around the same time. She was four.
I paid for swimming lessons a few years later, just so they could learn how to do the strokes properly.
Chicky was not super fond of these sessions.
So, the kids grew up, attending pool parties and swimming pretty good.
Rooster swam on the middle school swim team during seventh and eighth grade. He loved it!
Rooster’s coach was the nicest lady. She also coached the high school team.
When Chicky tore her ACL in 9th grade, Coach offered to let her do laps with the high school team. Swimming is one of the best cardio workouts and because it is non-weight-bearing, it is the perfect exercise when rehabbing.
Chicky showed up one morning, did a few laps, and declared herself non-swimming material. She never went back.
With this history in mind, it’s a wonder she decided to take the lifeguard class in the first place! But, the desire for a job and the money that goes along with it overruled her objections.
While she was in the shower, Rooster told us how she struggled during the 300 yard warm up. 100 freestyle, 100 breast stroke, and the last 100 whatever you wanted.
Chicky had no idea how to execute the breast stroke. Kicking her legs out sideways really made her nervous given her knee stuff from years ago. She’s uber-sensitive to some motions.
She doggy-paddled the last 100 yards, literally dog-tired.
Next, they had to swim from the shallow to the deep end of the pool, take a breath, and dive down to retrieve a 10lb brick and tote it back to the shallow end…in two minutes.
Chicky did pretty good, only coming up for air once before successfully grabbing the brick.
One other thing the students had to do was, while treading water, use the motion of their arms and hands to propel themselves up and then down through the water to touch bottom of the pool (11 feet, I think) with their toes.
Chicky has always been coordinated, but she could not get the hang of the motion.
Rooster said she kept going sideways under the water instead of straight down.
Poor girl.
Chicky came out of the shower, and it was Rooster’s turn, so we got Chicky’s side of the story.
She pretty much repeated the same things Rooster had said, but she told us something funny.
She said that at one point during the 300-yard warm-up, she got to the end of the pool, took a moment to catch her breath, and looked up at Rooster, asking, “Am I doing this right?”
Rooster squatted down and clapped his hands for her, encouraging her.
Oh my gosh, but when I heard this, my heart swelled with joy.
For those of you who have children who argue more than they hug, and I’m not talking hugging to squeeze the life out of the other, then let me give you this hope.
They do grow up.
They do wind up, most of the time, liking each other.
See, they have a commonality with each other that others don’t have.
They know what it’s like to be raised by their particular set of parents. They can share the injustices of being grounded for “nothing,” doing chores til their fingers fell off (yeah, right), and eating burned food three nights in a row (heaven forbid).
The kids take the final test on Monday. I have every confidence they’ll pass.
I also know that though my kids will have their own lives as they get older, they’ll always have this special week together. It’s something they and I will cherish.
Filed under: children | Tagged: child rearing, children, parenting, siblings | 1 Comment »
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