Lesson One

     I wanted to give you a little background information on little SRG (those are his initials, not pronounced like a short form of Sergeant and while we're at it, his name is Shelton, not Sheldon) taking swim lessons. I learned how to swim without holding my nose two summers ago. I was literally 25 years of age when I learned how. Thinking back to my childhood, I remember going to the lake, pools, beaches and even a massive puddle in a ditch my brother and I swam in. I even remember one of our babysitters trying to teach me how to swim in her neighborhood pool. So, this is no reflection of my parents' parenting skills. I was exposed to water a lot. I have absolutely no idea why I didn't know how. I have to give credit to Shane for being the one to finally teach me to submerge my head underwater without coming up in a frantic mess of flailing arms and snot rockets. Bless his heart. He has a lot of patience. He has taught me how to swim, run, cook, clean, and shoot a gun, just to name a few. I can already see him using that same sweet patience with Shelton.

      I'm one of those moms that wants for my child. I think most moms are. I want him to swim. I want him to be good at math. I want him to be all of the things I'm not and wish I was. I want him to grow up and have many life skills. Shane and I, as soon as we started talking about starting a family, discussed the things we wanted to teach our son or daughter. Things like how to sew a button and plant a garden. As a family, we want to get outside and play and at the same time, teach and learn. We daydream about Shelton hiking trails with us. I can already see him picking up bugs and Shane teaching him which ones he could eat if he were lost in the woods with no food. I can see him running too far ahead of us and yelling for him to slow down. He's already such a curious boy. So in a couple of weeks we'll start with swimming. Considering he is only five months old, this one will take a little while. But I can't wait to see the look on his face when he swims from me to Shane or from the side of the stairs to...the other side of the stairs. We will be his biggest fans and cheer him on for the rest of his life. Go Shelton!