Update on the Swimming Lessons.

Thursday: Did Not Go Well.

Friday: Looked like more of the same and then suddenly! Mr Justin took things up a few notches and the class was underwater, overwater, floating and kicking and things were looking better. The T-Bot came out of the session animated and excited at all he had achieved. Or it could have been that they were finally allowed to use all the floaters he had been coveting and so he had come out of his sulk. My little boy is not an easy read. 

 

Anyhow, one week to go and I have promised him that if he passes the course he will not have to go back. Actually if he does not pass the course he will especially not be going back because I refuse to pay another $130 if they can’t teach him right the first time. Obviously I did not tell him that. Just like the swimming school neglected to tell me that there was an exam to gain entrance to the class above, and that if he flunks I will have to pay again and again until he doesn’t.

 

No Sweat Play Areas

Last week we tried out all the indoor playgrounds in the vicinity. At the beginning of the week we did this because it was too hot to play outdoors. By the end of the week it was too wet. I am a big fan of indoor playgrounds, especially the ones which are free. But wait! Nothing is ever free. Here are some of our local options: 

 

1. Local mall.

Distance: Around 15 minutes. Time Spent: 2 hours playing, 15 minutes eating. Cost: Starbucks, $16

 

2. Fancier Mall in Town.

Distance: Around 30 minutes. Time Spent: 2 hours playing, half an hour eating, half an hour shopping. Cost: Fast Food, $11, Carousel, $3

 

3. McDonalds Playplace.

Distance: Around 5 minutes. Time Spent: 10 minutes eating, 1 hour playing. Cost: Food, $13

 

4. IKEA.

Distance: Around 40 minutes. Time Spent: 1 hour at Smaland drop in daycare, 30 minutes eating and watching Loony Tunes in the cafeteria, 30 minutes playing in the kids area of the store. Cost: Lunch, $19, various items of colored plastic crap for around the home: $45. 

 

5. Upstairs in our House.

Distance. 0 miles. Time Spent: Hours and hours. Cost: My hair, my control, my sanity at having to work out which tiny plastic bits go into which boxes when cleaning up afterwards. Also, Baby Sister stepped on a Lego and won’t stop going on about the hole in her foot. Definitely not the cheapest option. 

 

The Resident Magician

Yesterday I was out of the house hunting for treasures and left the kids digging up the yard with The Daddy (The Daddy is creating a mud pit which may, one day, with the addition of plants, turn into a tropical garden). The Daddy, if you give him the chance, is a true magician. I came home to a yard full of excited children all yelling at once about how they had made a pinata!! (recipe: old halloween candy, plastic supermarket bag, string), dug for treasure!! (old builders scrap and leaves discovered in the mud) and played with ice!! (entire contents of freezer ice maker dumped onto the driveway).

Then, their fun buckets full to the brim, they disappeared upstairs to play quietly and left me to some unaccustomed peace and quiet. It was very strange. I almost started to miss them.