Swimming Lesson Drama

If I survive today, I might be able to survive these kids. It started with a very bad morning, where we couldn't find Audrey's swimsuit ANYWHERE, so she was forced to wear her towel dress to the pool. Then we couldn't find the summer reading program cards for the library so we could go redeem our prizes after swimming lessons. Fabulous. That all meant that we left later than planned, got stuck in a little traffic, and were 7 minutes late for Kierra's swimming lesson. Bring it on, Monday morning.

Last week ended our girls' first swimming lesson session of the summer, so we started a new rotation today. Our girls loved swimming lessons, but something changed with Audrey today. She discovered that not only would she not have the same beloved teacher, but she would have a boy teacher. Ilch! On top of that, she was the only person to sign up for said class, so it would be like a private lesson (I thought that would be a bonus, but alas, she does not agree).

Audrey would not get in the water. At all.

I thought, okay, I can be a nice mommy by listening to her feelings....Nah, here comes mean mommy. You brought it on yourself, kid. So for a half hour, I tried to reach into my bag of tricks that I have learned from almost 6 years of parental training (all the while fearing the judgments of the onlooking moms, and trying to keep my cool in front of them). Hmmm, choices. She works well with choices. "Okay, Audrey, you can either get in the water with your teacher, or have no lesson at all." Well that didn't work. All right, what shall I withhold from her as a punishment? After several attempts of this, I finally brought out the big guns. "Okay, Audrey, if you don't get in the water and go to your lesson, we will not go to the library and get our summer prize today, and you will have no TV, no playing with friends, no coloring, and no Polly Pockets for 3 days. You will sit on your bed and be bored out of your mind." You know what she said to that? "Okay." She was totally willing to withstand that punishment! Aiy-aiy-aiy! I even tried calling Jeromy to have him talk her into going, but that didn't work. So we just sat on the bench (me fuming) for a half hour till her lesson was up.

When we got back to the car, the kids got in and got buckled, while I sat on the tailgate trying to calm down. After a few minutes, Audrey begged me to come back in the car. She then said, while crying, "Mommy, are you grateful for your children? Then act like it!" Oy vey.

So we drove home. All the while trying to figure out how to make her go to her lesson. Or should I respect her feelings that she really doesn't want a boy teacher, and try to put her into another class? Maybe it's a good thing that she's automatically wary of older boys. Then I noticed one of those Rock Chip Repair places and pulled over. I've been meaning to get our little chip fixed for a week now, and I thought that would be a perfect distraction for us all, nice and boring. Halfway through the repair, Audrey said, "Mom, please forgive me." Wow. What do I say to that, mean mommy? We had a nice little talk when we got home, and she assures me that she'll give this boy a try for me on Wednesday. And I promised to be nice Mom again. So who's the teacher here?