June 29th, 2012

Swimming Lessons

Summertime fun is some of the most memorable. Every year I rode my bike to a friend’s house, where the sprinkler in the front yard watered the Slip-n-Slide, and brought hours of escape from the heat. We went to the playgrounds and ball fields, spending our time outside and away from school. Stopping at 7-11 for a Slurpee and a box of Nerds or a pouch of Big League Chew. The public pool opened the week after school let out and was overrun on the hottest days. Unfortunately, I was never a good swimmer when I was young. A few bad experiences at the public pool gave me a fear of water that has been a struggle to overcome. Now that I am a parent of two children, I want them to not fear the water as I had and swimming lessons overcome it.

In Florida, many homes have pools, and having children in swimming lessons as toddlers or earlier becomes extremely important. One of the first lessons a child learns is getting to the side of the pool and crab walking to the steps to get out. Getting acquainted with the water is another lesson for young children. Splashing, playing, and even getting a lung full, coughing it out are ways they learn a healthy respect for water.

Swim lessons are not easy to attend, especially with work asking for longer days and all of the vacations during the summer. Lessons become a commitment from both parent and child. Eventually, the kids drive the commitment because they love swimming and being in the water. But, when they are young and screaming in your arms, panicking because they are not familiar with the water, its up to parents to persevere. I went through this ordeal with my kids and I know a lot of people and their children would kick and scream and cry the minute they touched the water. There were days when I did not want to go, and it was OK to skip a day. But, it was my goal to have them swim and enjoy the water because I never could.

It took years of going to swim lessons at the local public pool for my kids to swim on their own. My youngest has another year before she is a strong enough swimmer to be on her own, but in time she will be a fish because of her love of water. They love to swim and play in a pool or the ocean. Watching my kids swim is a joy for me, and through it all I’ve learned how to swim and enjoy the water.

June 17th, 2012

Happy Father's Day!

Nothing much to say, other than it has been a blessing to have such great children in my life.

Every year, we spend Father's Day on Long Boat Key with our family and friends. And, every year it is spectacular. So, I've no time to blog today.

June 20, 2012

A Sense of Discovery

Living on the Gulf Coast of Florida, as I had mentioned in prior posts, has many advantages. The abundance of water and water activities is amazing. As often as possible, and more so during the summer, I pack up the towels, beach toys, drinks and snacks, chairs, umbrella and sunscreen, taking advantage of another beautiful day on the beach. We swim and build sand forts, being not very good at sculpting sand, and holes at the edge of the surf to sit in and let the larger waves fill on occasion.

The beach is full of small living organisms, too numerous to list and I’ve only a remedial knowledge of them. My seven-year-old has taken to digging in the sand in search of sand fleas. These little creatures the size of a pinky-nail, reside in the surf about an inch or two into the sand and are not harmful (as opposed to the Caribbean type). He captures as many as his attention span can last and puts them in a small bucket to watch them scurry around in search of cover. Then, a few coquinas are added to watch them stick out their tongue, foraging for whatever is in the water. The beachside aquarium is complete.

We live on the intercoastal and fish almost daily. Some days we catch a fish or two, but most days we just enjoy being outside, even when it’s hot. Recently, I’ve been throwing a 10’ cast net to catch live bait, such as pin fish and sardines. Each throw brings something up from the sea. My focus is on the small fish, however, my son loves to examine everything that comes with each throw. He sends the cone jellies back into the water and helps putting the fish caught into our bait bucket. When the net is cleaned up and readied for another throw, he takes the oyster shells and opens them to see what is inside. These are not living oysters, but shells that are stuck together, requiring little strength to pull apart and providing habitat for other estuary creatures. Inside one of these clusters of shells, he has found several brine shrimp. Recently, he found a small octopus, only two inches big, tucked inside one of these clusters.

Having days spent with my children reminds me about the world and how much there is to discover. We, as parents, tend to focus on our jobs, our families and our futures, neglecting that small child in all of us, wanting to discover something new and exciting, neglecting our sense of wondering what’s inside those shells. There are personal health benefits from trying something new and discovering the world around us. I think the biggest benefit is that we open ourselves up to new things, people and places (This article explains it much better). Another benefit is that we have the same sense of wonder of the world around us, just like our children, which means we can relate to their experiences and possibly look for more, new and exciting adventures.

June 8th, 2012

Lessons Learned on a Playground

 

One afternoon at the Eagle Lake playground, my daughter was on the swings, and my son stood on a raised platform and stared at the monkey bars in front of him. Finally tall enough to reach the first rung, he grabbed the bar and quickly grabbed the next, but hesitated to continue to the third and his hands slipped. He fell four feet down to the mulch and, thankfully, missed hitting the platform with the back of his head. He was more shocked from the fall than hurt. He didn’t cry, but I could see he was discouraged. I was never good at crossing the monkey bars, or climbing a rope. And, after years of watching my son play on the playgrounds, I have a solid hypothesis why, but won’t get into genetics here.

Typically, I would let him feel the pain and check him out for bleeding, then, send him on his way, but this was an opportunity for him to get back up to the platform and try again. And, I wanted to let him know falling to the ground was far better than a fall against the steel platform. I put him back on the platform and encouraged him to try again, to not focus on the end and go as far as he could because the fall is fun, too. The pain he felt was gone. He made it to the sixth rung with no help from me and fell, landing on his feet. Two lessons learned: how to fall and to not turn back.

Playgrounds are made to test a child, stretching their physical confidence as they jump, reach and climb around the obstacles in their way. These confined areas are also a great place for a parent to observe their child and take notes on their development, physically and mentally. Toddlers can give a parent a decent workout, chasing them from one side to the other over an hour of running, tumbling, and swinging (click here for recent article). Helping them navigate the obstacles in place, we give them the lesson needed to perform these acts on their own, but we need to remember to walk away or they’ll never learn how to pump their legs to swing, or alternate hands and feet to climb. Then, from the sidelines, a parent can watch their child play and interact with other children, determine if they are a leader, follower or both, and assess what skills are next on the list to introduce or perfect.

There are many types of playgrounds and playground philosophies. I believe in all of them, and simple walks in the woods, where fallen trees, thickets and other boundaries are meant to be tested. Obstacles present opportunities for children to stretch their creativity for problem solving. These are essential in the development of a child, encouraging exploration of their physical world and the world that is growing inside their mind.