We Have Never Swum Before

         All those sports and activities that kids do kind of make me anxious. Of our children, we have tried to involve them in activities that interest them. One loves horses and dance and another has a passion for football but the little one has been a great cheerleader. He goes to events, shows, lessons and practices without complaint. I think that maybe it is because he gets to use his tablet during the week. I was absolutely fine with all this so I am not sure why I was prompted yesterday to sign him up for swim team. I'm gonna blame it in those really cool PFPiranha signs down town. 

  

           Everett had surgery, last month, for double reflux in his kidneys. I think that I spent all my energy into making him well that I figured it was ok that he didn't have an activity of his own. Now that he is better he has been asking to swim. And then I saw the signs. They are just those cheep yard signs that call for registration but I liked the fish or piranha. Anyway it was in blue and looked cool. So we went by the city pool to ask questions and ran into Everett's old preschool teacher. She is on the board of the swim team. Oh how excited she was to see Everett and hear he wanted to be on the team. We immediately went home and signed up. I think we were a little affected by the chlorine? 

             In May he will start practices. I paid the registration fee, and read about commitment, how I have to volunteer and buying a team uniform. I did forget to read the fine print. It wasn't so fine but I just didn't read the whole handbook. Really, how hard can swimming be? He is only going to be seven.  Haha, we have never swum before. 

           Today we had our sat morning date while the others were at their activities. I thought it would be a great day to buy his practice gear. I hadn't bothered to look at what we needed so I asked the employee at the big box store. They claim to be experts in helping with all team seasonal sports. She new exactly what we needed. All $200 worth of stuff. For swimming. No, you can not swim naked. It turns out you need goggles x2, swim shorts, a cap, deck shoes, this special bag, 2 towels, and fins. After 2 hours or looking and trying on we left with this...

Some super special will make you swim faster goggles, the swim cap, and these skin tight training swim shorts. They were out of the fins so I will have to seek them somewhere else. He was so proud of his bag! I think my mom heart swelled a little when he showed his gear to his sister and brother. Then I went to double check on the website to make sure we got the right things and my heart shrunk. I had forgotten to actually read the handbook before signing him up. 

         My children have been swimming since they were 4 months old. I know he can swim. By swim I mean he can jump in the pool anywhere and get back to the edge without drowning. Turns out he needs to be able to swim freestyle, not sure what that was so I Googled it, the length of the pool, 25m.  Turns out doggie paddle does not qualify as a "freestyle" stroke. I guess we should see if he can do this now he is signed up. Does anyone have a pool he can try this out in? If he can't learn to do it than he will not be on the team. Couldn't they have a tryout before they took my registration money? Practice is everyday. Turns out it is not mandatory but if you want to be in the meet attendance matters. Upon further reading I noticed the meets start at 7:30am. Big question here but that is not even the best part. You need to check in before the meet, at 6am. 6am, in case you didn't get that. Why would any one want to be swimming at 6am? Shouldn't we all still be sleeping? What did we sign up for? 

        This should be a fun summer. My only thought now is it is a good thing that Everett looks so cute in those little swim shorts. Wonder if we have the next Michael Phelps?