summer daze

Whatever original plan I had for this summer has gone out the window. Instead of practicing letters and listening to books on tape while learning to read, this summer has turned into age of Aquarius. All those beautiful workbooks have not even been opened. We struggled through one book on tape (Holes) which he was completely uninterested in and even with the bribe of watching the movie when we were finished, he was not going to like it at all.

Swimming has been the name of the game for the past two months. I learned quickly that goggles are the key to Braden's success. The minute he realized that he wouldn't have to get water in his eyes he was swimming around like a fish. We have progressed from CLINGING to mama's neck, to splashing around on a inner tube, to REAL swim lessons where we learned to 'take breaths', to the final phase of the journey..... We joined the neighborhood pool. Braden is now swimming around on his own, playing with the other kids and JUMPING off the side of the pool.

Coming in late to the swim season has some advantages (price of membership) but it also feels kinda awkward. We've only been going for about a week now... and each day there are the same people there. They sit in the same spots and swim in the same spots and talk with either no one or the same people each time. It feels very cliquey..... Like they can tell I am a newbie. None of the other mothers seem remotely interested in meeting anyone. They don't seem to care if Braden is playing with their kids... they are too busy talking on their phone or yelling at an older sibling. When T comes with us we get a bit more attention. Usually from the 8-18 girls.... who coo over T... that is until he starts screaming about something.

I know I am totally insecure so I am sure that some of this is in my head, maybe in the next 6 weeks we will meet someone fun to make friends with... maybe not.... doesn't seem to bother Braden at all... so really it's all worth it! :-)