The girls had their last swimming lesson this week.  Up to the last week of lessons, both girls struggled a bit with keeping up with the other kids in their respective courses.  Both girls were in introduction classes, but it was clear that the other kids in their classes had experience with being in water and swimming before the start of the lessons.  I wasn’t very sure that either of them would be able to go to the last night of classes, because Dee Dee got sick early in the week.  And, over the past year, when one girl brings home an illness from school it’s only a matter of time before the other girl catches it.  Also, I’m going to be Dee Dee’s baseball coach this spring.   
 

Last week, my wife received an email that said that there wasn’t a coach for our local park’s baseball team.  Long story shortened is I volunteered to coach, and through a rather confusing course of emails, calls, and stopping in to talk withs, I learned on Friday afternoon that I was, indeed, going to coach the 8 and Under, Coach Pitch Baseball team.  At seven years and eleven months, Dee Dee is the oldest player.  One other girl from her class is a couple months younger, and the rest of the team is made up of first grade boys.  And one Founding Father. 

Over the weekend, I took Dee Dee over to the park so she could feel what it’s like to play with a real baseball.  Up to now, everything had been plastic.  She caught and threw the ball well enough.  She hit the ball off a tee a couple times and then I pitched to her.  She was able to make contact if I was able to get the ball over the plate.  Unfortunately, I had a difficult time doing that.  When Dee Dee was able to hit the ball, she ran around all the bases and yelled, “Home Run!”  We played for over an hour.  My shoulder was very sore by the time we finished.  Our first scheduled practice was canceled due to lightning storms in the forecast.  I received my first complaint from a parent.  A woman was upset because she was under the impression that there would be two practices every week.  I apologized for the weather forecast not going as forecasted.   

Wednesday was the last night that we had to eat early and get the girls ready for swimming lessons, for the time being, at least.  These lessons provided a few “firsts” for the girls.  First time in a swimming pool.  First time taking a shower somewhere other than our house.  And, along with the shower, first time wearing Crocs.  When my wife ordered the Crocs, she was able to order a pink pair for Audio, but they didn’t have pink in Dee Dee’s size.  So, she ordered two pairs of blue Crocs for the girls.  Unfortunately, the shades of blue were not the same and Audio was upset that Dee Dee got the better color.  Very upset. 

A few days later, when my wife went to request a return label to ship back the pink Crocs, she got a message that she could just keep them.  At this point, we let Dee Dee in on the news and asked her if she would like to give the pink Crocs to Audio, since she had been so upset about her shade of blue.  When Dee Dee gave the pink Crocs to Audio, Audio was happy for a moment, but soon found that the blue strap on the back of the shoe wasn’t to her liking and she got upset.  Very upset. 

The next morning, Dee Dee and I showed Audio that the blue and pink colors on her Crocs were the same as the blue and pink on her Hello Kitty! backpack (which used to be Dee Dee’s).  After that, Audio wanted to wear her pink and blue Crocs, or “Cracks” as she calls them, everywhere.  She manages to get a rock or a stick in one of them every time she wears them outside.  But discomfort is a small price to pay to look good! 

Building up to the last swimming lesson, I had been talking with the girls about how the last lesson would be the last chance for them to do a big jump into the pool, something that they hadn’t been ready to do during the previous five lessons.  Jumping into the pool had been something that both girls’ classes had worked on, but neither girl had made any great leaps into the water.  Dee Dee had an instructor there to assist her, so Dee Dee asked to hold the instructor’s hand when she jumped in.  And, Audio had her mom in the pool to catch her, so she would have her mom stand very close to the edge of the pool, where she was jumping from.  At their last lesson, with their last chance, both girls jumped for all they were worth and made one last, big splash before they had to get out of the water until the next session of swimming lessons starts, whenever that is.