Summer activities

Now that summer has arrived, the kids are beginning their summer activities.

Last summer I enrolled Isaac in two summer activities: lessons in both swimming and soccer. He will not be taking soccer again this year. Not only did it make him miserable, but since then I have had a philosophical shift about enrolling my kids in sports. I grew up disliking sports in part because they were a mystery to me; I felt like I was at a disadvantage because the other kids were familiar with the rules. So with Isaac I figured that forced exposure to a sport would bring familiarity, which would eventually blossom into enjoyment, or at least into understanding of the rules. But it didn't work, and now I am ashamed that I tried to force him into something he so clearly disliked.

Life offers such a variety of fun things to learn, and no one has time to do them all! As Isaac has seldom showed interest in playing with a ball, perhaps we should just forget about team sports, and this freedom will give him time to pursue things he actually enjoys. At this point I feel like we won't enroll him in any extracurricular sporting activities unless he asks.

However, swimming is a different story, so starting on Monday, both kids will be taking swimming lessons at a local high school. Isaac seems to understand that these lessons are not optional; he might not be looking forward to it, but he isn't protesting. Laurel's lessons are actually parent-and-baby classes, so I will be in the pool with her; meanwhile Isaac will have lessons with two other kids and an instructor. We've signed up for four weeks of lessons, which are held four days a week. That's a lot of swimming! (I've gotten new swimsuits for the kids, but I guess I should check to see if mine still fits.)

In addition to the four weeks of swimming, Isaac has five weeks of summer school. Classes are held three days a week, and the first week ended today. Although it is held at Isaac's regular preschool, it is turning out to be a somewhat different experience. He has a new teacher; the class has children ranging from age three to five (during the school year the classes are age-segregated); and none of his usual friends are attending. But Isaac seems to be enjoying it, mostly because he loves his new teacher (who will also be his teacher in the fall, hooray!).

There are 40 summer school students, and about six of them are almost-five-year-old boys who, like Isaac, will be attending the school's pre-K "developmental kindergarten" program in the fall. Unfortunately they are mostly "the boys who like Star Wars," as Isaac says dismissively; they are a rowdy and close-knit group of friends who played together all last year. It is unlikely that Isaac will end up playing Star Wars with these boys, but I'm sure he will find someone who wants to play with vehicles and dig in the sandbox.

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Besides bobbing about in the pool with me, what will Laurel be doing this summer? We're taking a break from Music Together until fall, so I'm going to make an effort to take her to the lapsit storytime at the public library, which is designed for kids under 24 months. So far we've been to one storytime this summer, and Laurel really enjoyed it. The librarian used a baby doll as a prop during one song, and I thought all the little girls in the audience, including Laurel, were going to rush her. Laurel was even inspired to say "doll" for the first time.

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And what about me? Sadly I've had to drop my weekly painting class for the summer, as Craig's absences would make regular attendance impossible.