Today was the last day of swimming lessons- they didn't work.

Today my son finished a 6 week session of swimming lessons. Apparently, I had unrealistic expectations about what he would accomplish in these six weeks. For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you know that my son wouldn't be called an "easy" child and this blog will come as no surprise to you. For those of you who don't know the character of my son, let me describe the last six weeks for you.

You need to understand some background. My son has been swimming in our neighborhood pool now for 3 years; however, he has never, I repeat never, been willing to try and swim without a floaty, life jacket, or inner tube to help. I decided that I wanted him to swim on his own this summer; after all, he is five now. Sounds like a reasonable goal right? Well it isn't if you are talking about my son! Before the first week of swimming lessons, I had purchased this swimming dog my son had seen on TV as motivation for trying his best. Of course I agreed to this idea- how much could this little toy cost anyway? Well, $30 later I had really high hopes!!!

For the first swimming lesson, I had to sit on the side of the pool with my son the entire time because he wouldn't even put his foot in the water. All they were asking was for him float around on two long noodles; honestly, this wasn't something new to him. My son just didn't like being told what to do. All of the other mothers, all my friends, were over on the bleachers chatting and having fun- but not me. Do I need to tell you that I wasn't very happy?

The second swimming lessons were even worse. For the first hour, he wouldn't even go anywhere near the water. We were given permission to stay for the second lesson because he did nothing during the first! A very kind teacher tried his hand with my son but with little success. After 15 minutes, I finally walked over to them and told my son "GET IN THE POOL" through gritted teeth. Then the teacher looked at me and asked "has he been in a pool before?"; I answered "yes, for the last three years". I knew I didn't want to hear anymore but the teacher then explained that my son had told him that he had never been in the water and this was a first. OH, do I need to tell you I wasn't very happy? The man asked if he would be OK to grab my son and hold him in the water. I was happy. I thought someone needs to take charge of my son and then things would change (right?). Well, the very kind, but now deaf man, grabbed my son and just held him while he walked through the pool. My son screamed NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOO, NOOOOO for and entire thirty minutes!!! Yup, everyone in the pool heard him screaming at the top of his lungs their entire lesson too. Do I need to tell you I was very very unhappy?

Later that night, my husband took my son into his bedroom alone and "motivated" him to obey. With the threat of no stuffed animals, no cartoons with daddy and more "motivation", the subsequent lessons went a little better. Throughout each lesson though my son still managed to get the teacher to hold him, give him all of her attention, and make sure people were always watching. Will he be swimming by himself this summer? So glad you asked. No. Before swimming lessons, my husband and I made a really big deal about taking his life vest away. This vest worked great last summer and probably would have served us well this summer too. However, we picked our battle with him and now we must win. His life vest is gone and I will not buy another one. He does however, have a new noodle to swim with around the pool. I know it may look like he won the battle but he didn't!!! You believe me don't you?

Even though I know my son inherited this stubbornness from my husband (honest), I realize that I can be like that when God is trying to teach me a lesson also. I may not be learning to swim in a pool but I am still trying to learn how to stay afloat in this crazy world. There are so many habits and hang-ups that keep weighing me down that sometimes I start to sink. All of us, my husband, myself, his teachers, tried telling my son that this was for his own good; but he still doesn't see it yet. I feel so passionately about the idea that all of the rules that God gives us, are really for our own good. God is NOT a mean ruler, but a Father who looks out for us. I just hope that next time God tries to teach me how to stay afloat in this world, I am diligent at learning the lesson rather than screaming at the top of my lungs NOOOOOO for everyone to see. How about you? Is there something God is trying to teach you that you are stubbornly refusing to learn? I want to hear about your victories today.

Today is the day after.

Yesterday was a momentous day in my life. You see everything happened: my son (and baby) graduated from preschool; my daughter got her stitches out; and oh, the baby I just mentioned, also turned 5! The graduation ceremony was nice but let me tell you these mother (I'm certainly not one of them) can get vicious to save good seats for a preschool ceremony! We were allowed in the sanctuary at 10:30 for the 11:00 graduation and I was waiting in line at 10:25 to get in. Honest, I'm not one of those crazy mothers but I did get a pretty good seat. I didn't cry, but then I didn't have time either! My son got to choose a restaurant to eat at to celebrate graduation and then we whisked home to clean the house for his party on Saturday.

I then waited for my daughter to get home from school so I could give her some Motrin in preparation for getting her stitches out. My very kind neighbor offered to take out the stitches from last week on the specified day so that we didn't have to wait and pay for a doctor to do it. Once again, I want to give my neighbor a shout out for helping us out so willingly! Of course my daughter, who like most eight year old girls, can be quite dramatic. She squirmed, squeaked, and skirted around while my neighbor patiently took the stitches out. After it was all over, my daughter said "hey that didn't hurt; I wish putting them in was that easy too". Of course, that isn't what she said as the stitches were being removed. Then you guessed it, we quickly ran home to clean the house some more for my son's birthday party on Saturday.

Before we left for his birthday dinner, my son was allowed to open one present. He chose the one that had arrived via Fed Ex Overnight earlier in the day. It was an entire fleet of very, very, very small Star War characters and ships. I have been searching for this and finally found it on ebay this Tuesday! The ebay seller, Tunafeathers, was kind enough to accommodate us and sent the winning bid Fed Ex. I'm happy to say that my son loved this birthday present more than anything else he has ever received. I uploaded a video so you can see this for yourself. We ate dinner out (again) and to my frustration my son ate absolutely nothing because he was so busy playing with the Star Wars men; at least the meal was free because it was his birthday. We quickly left the restaurant to go home and clean the house for his upcoming party- Oh, just kidding... we left the restaurant to go to my daughter's school and see her artwork. Then we went home to opening presents, cut the grass, and take baths.


I don't have any deep thoughts today. OK, let's be honest- I'm not have many thoughts at all today. But I am thankful for one thing. God has promised us that He will never change. Today I find a lot of security in that promise. I can see clearly that the time I take in getting to know God will never be wasted. He will always be right there through school graduations, physical traumas and even emotional traumas brought on by the inevitable birthdays. Today I am trusting God to carry me through it all. I think my son summed the day up best when he said "I had a really good birthday, even if I did have to take a bath."

Today I have bloody footprints in my garage!

Yes, that is right- I have 7 bloody footprints in my garage. No, it isn't a crime scene; but it sure was a scene straight out of your nightmares.

You see, my daughter and I share many wonderful qualities; however, athleticism isn't one of them. On Monday night, she demonstrated this fact by a rather forceful collision with her scooter. I was upstairs when my husband started yelling for me. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could and saw him carrying our daughter inside. To be honest, it was a little hard for my brain to comprehend the scene. But let me try to describe it for you... There was blood everywhere- we are talking actual puddles of blood! My daughter had a three inch gash on her shin that taught me more about human anatomy than my physiology classes ever did. I was actually able to identify fat, muscle and yes, bone. By the way, did you know there is an artery that goes up the front of the leg??? I do now!!! Yes, that explains the copious amounts of blood. Once I started focusing again, I see my son trying to apologize to my daughter (we still haven't figured out why because he wasn't anywhere near her when it happened). My daughter was rather glassy-eyed through the entire thing. I quickly called my neighbor, a nurse, and told her she HAD to come over NOW because we had had an accident. As she told us later, after following the trail of bloody footprints through the garage and then encountering not only one but two LARGE puddles of blood, she knew there was a problem. She agreed that my daughter did need stitches and she was kind enough (and coherent enough) to offer to drive us to the emergency room.

My husband and I were both happy to accept her help as well as her daughter's help (our regular babysitter) when she stayed with our son at home. I was particularly grateful for my neighbor's expertise when my daughter started to get groggy on the way to the hospital. My neighbor dropped us off at the emergency room and parked the car; she waited with us for the entire 2 and 1/2 hours; she asked all of the right questions to the doctors; she watched over the not-so-practiced resident apply 12, yes 12, stitches; she cheerfully drove us home. Thank you doesn't seem to be enough but THANK YOU!

We had no idea what Monday night had in store for us, but God did. The Bible promises us that God will always provide for us. God certainly did provide for us Monday night. I honestly don't know what we would have done if my neighbor wasn't home. God knew we needed them and allowed everything to work out in His timing. I'm thankful for two things today. I'm thankful for my neighbor's willingness to help and I'm thankful for God's provision. I just hope that someday I will help someone too when God has put me in the right place at the right time. Maybe that day will be today.