The day everyone learned to dive
Our second full day in New Hampshire was spent relaxing and just enjoying the company. (Plus, J. had some work he had to do, so he got to do that. Lucky him.) Later in the afternoon we all headed over to a friend of the other Currys and used their pool. Everyone had a great time.
The younger set pretty much stayed on the steps and played in the water.
There was a lot of sliding.
And sometimes a big person would take a little person out into the pool.
The diving board was very popular.
There were two big events of the afternoon. The first was this:
If you scroll back up and look at the first picture, you will notice that H. is sitting with just her feet in the pool. This is how she has approached pools and beaches for the past five months. She is happy to have her feet wet but absolutely refuses to get wet above the knee. As the afternoon progressed, I watched her slowly get wetter and wetter. First she moved slowly down each step until she was a lot wetter than she had been before. Then I noticed that she was starting to get her hair wet by tipping the top of her head into the pool. Then the next thing I knew, she was all the way in the water and having a wonderful time. She stayed in the pool for the rest of the time.
Now, I feel I need to address the seizure-thing. Probably it didn't occur to any of you to wonder at us allowing H. into the water. Before we began our journey into the land of seizures, I wouldn't have either. It's actually a bit dangerous to allow a child with unpredictable seizures to be in water. We were very careful to keep someone next to her at all times so that she could be pulled out of the water immediately. I wouldn't let her swim (or bathe in a bathtub) at this point without a second person to keep watch. But I also don't want her to miss out on things because of the seizures. She has missed out on so much already, I would rather support her as she tries and experiences new things.
The other big event was the spontaneous group diving lesson inspired by the diving board. Only one of our children (B.) could dive before this trip to the pool. M. had steadfastly refused to learn and the others had different swim lessons which didn't emphasize diving. Well, I am happy to report that by the end of the day all of my swimmers (that would be everyone age 9 and up, excluding H.) could do a passable dive. So not only did everyone have fun, exert some energy, they also felt pretty pleased with themselves that they had learned a new skill.
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Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 4 / Part 5
The younger set pretty much stayed on the steps and played in the water.
There was a lot of sliding.
And sometimes a big person would take a little person out into the pool.
The diving board was very popular.
There were two big events of the afternoon. The first was this:
If you scroll back up and look at the first picture, you will notice that H. is sitting with just her feet in the pool. This is how she has approached pools and beaches for the past five months. She is happy to have her feet wet but absolutely refuses to get wet above the knee. As the afternoon progressed, I watched her slowly get wetter and wetter. First she moved slowly down each step until she was a lot wetter than she had been before. Then I noticed that she was starting to get her hair wet by tipping the top of her head into the pool. Then the next thing I knew, she was all the way in the water and having a wonderful time. She stayed in the pool for the rest of the time.
Now, I feel I need to address the seizure-thing. Probably it didn't occur to any of you to wonder at us allowing H. into the water. Before we began our journey into the land of seizures, I wouldn't have either. It's actually a bit dangerous to allow a child with unpredictable seizures to be in water. We were very careful to keep someone next to her at all times so that she could be pulled out of the water immediately. I wouldn't let her swim (or bathe in a bathtub) at this point without a second person to keep watch. But I also don't want her to miss out on things because of the seizures. She has missed out on so much already, I would rather support her as she tries and experiences new things.
The other big event was the spontaneous group diving lesson inspired by the diving board. Only one of our children (B.) could dive before this trip to the pool. M. had steadfastly refused to learn and the others had different swim lessons which didn't emphasize diving. Well, I am happy to report that by the end of the day all of my swimmers (that would be everyone age 9 and up, excluding H.) could do a passable dive. So not only did everyone have fun, exert some energy, they also felt pretty pleased with themselves that they had learned a new skill.
____________________
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 4 / Part 5
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