we got back in the water today and the kids were blissfully unaffected by yesterday's adventure.

Thanks, everyone. I think a scare or two is pretty standard according to others, experiences.

msbelle, you continue to handle your situation with strength and grace. I remain impressed.

Dh called me today to say he mises us and wants us to come home early. He's bored and lonely, poor guy.

Cashmere, let me agree with whomever said earlier that it was not Parent Fail at ALL -- children are wily, quick, little creatures and you DID keep a sharp eye on them.

Still, scary as fuck!

Thanks Amy and Cashmere - nice things are nice to hear. I've been listening to my own voice in my head too much.

mac is having a hard time not sitting on the couch. But once he gets in the recliner he likes it more I think. I will have lost the recliner as my seat.

They really are right.

So the downstairs flush needs it's float flushed (it's running and for god knows how long.) I can barely recall how to do it and just don't have it in me tonight. So I shut off the valve.

I want to get a sign like this made to hang over my kitchen door: [link]

I like having my travels mark my home.

msbelle, when will the treatment by the ... treatment people be done? I was away most of last week and missed a lot, so I might have missed updates on that.

Also, poor mac. Those ads are way intense. I turn them off, or at least turn away, the minute they come on.

Even if they end up never doing what they're "supposed" to do that day they had fun in the water instead of that lesson being a battle or a failure or abandoned completely.

EXACTLY. The point of the class is to get kids comfortable in the water and having fun. 18m-3y olds are NOT learning to swim, they are learning to trust that their parents will not let them drown.

[eta: I partially take that back - some of the kids closer to 3 probably are learning the basics of how to kick and move their arms. But there's no independent floating in this level of class - everything is done with the parent in the water. The 3-5 year olds are the youngest to go in the water alone with floaty belts.]

One thing I often had success with (and my Sister who is teaching still does) is when they don't want to go in or don't want to go under is to non-spashily get them wet by patting water on them.

Oh, he does all that. And he'll happily splash water on his head and face, and put his ears in the water. Just not the whole head. (He'll even put his face in to "blow bubbles," but since what he's actually doing is taking sips of the pool water I try not to encourage it.)

My father threw me into the pool to introduce me to the water. I'm guessing that's not so okay these days.

You can help him blow instead of sip by playing a game where you blow air out of big cheeks (even squishing air out of your cheeks with your hands). Fart noises can help with the fun of this. Then every now and then dip your faces in while you do it. If you're blowing crazy amounts of air its hard to take in any water. It will help him "get" the feeling of blowing bubbles. Which is a nice feeling so he'll want to do it once he masters it.

Once he's doing that he can hold onto the side and do it. Then he can kick while he does it. All of that can progress pretty quickly and while its not proper "swimming" if (heaven forbid) he falls in somewhere and reacts by kicking and blowing he'll pop up, not suck in water, and (maybe most importantly) create a commotion.

It's the kid that just slips under the water silently that scares the fuck out of lifeguards. Three times I've pulled up children doing that and it still gives me chills. They were each floating just beneath the surface all startled and still.

I worry about floats in lessons, it makes it hard for them to learn their own buoyancy. I understand the urge, however, see above re: slipping under. At least the belts are a billion times better than the arm floaties which make it impossible to learn to use their arms. Or the back 'bubbles' -- God help us. [link] Great, their back is floating, but if they get tired or take in water they can't get upright and their face is pushed in the water, um, duh.

Amy - they treated on Thursday, but it wasn't what I would call a great treatment. They come back next week to inspect. I can almost guarantee that where they are going to look, they are not going to find any evidence. So they will declare the place clear. I will then call if/when I see another and I will try to convince my co-op that what they need to do is have a different company treat. I may have to pay someone myself.

it's all here: bugjourney.blogspot.com