Days, weeks or months - you have to know when to let it go!!

**Jonathan's first day of swimming last June - Coach Mike is helping assess his skills**

So, I took Jonathan to swim lessons on Friday. I have to say, for a kid who probably missed the better part of two months after Drew was born, and having been stuck at station 5 (freestyle) for two months before that, I was impressed when he got to bang the gong. At Nitro the kids get to bang the gong when they advance a level. There are ten levels in all before getting up'd to the other, more competitive levels. I'm hoping he'll be at level 10 by the time summer rolls around. So, now he's working on his backstroke and his first day on level six, the instructor tells me that aside from stamina, he's all but mastered all the skills.

Now, those of you who have ever seen Jonathan in (or near) the water prior to last June, *know* that he has conquered his fears. I got some really good advice years ago about only enrolling the kids in one activity at a time. I've stuck to that. With the swimming, I initially wanted the kids to have something to do while I was feeling absolutely yucky with being pregnant. So, I signed Jonathan up for lessons and got Ashley into the summer league. We practically lived at Nitro last summer! When he started he was still dealing with an irrational fear of water. I was floored that the instructors got him to stick his face in the water on the first day. At the beginning of the school year, I opted to keep him in swimming for the sole reason that I didn't want to have to pay for those beginning lessons all over again this year. Poor Jonathan. He just wanted to play basketball and do something else alongside his swimming. He loves to swim these days. So, I made him a deal that as soon as he got to level 10 he could move onto something else. I'm already impressed that he's done so well with his swimming. I may make an exception this June and let him pick another activity to do. The owner frequently hops into the pool to help out with the lessons and because of this, Jonathan has had the privilege of being taught by Coach Mike. Since there are only a couple of kids at any one station, he gets a semi-private lesson . I have to say, he responds to the male instructors totally different from the females. He jumps when they ask him to do something and at least two different times, when Coach Mike has instructed him, he's advanced a level. Coach Mike has assured me, lol, that Jonathan will be in summer league by the time those classes start up. I'm looking forward to seeing how his skills and interest will develop once he masters those first ten levels.

And now that I finish this post, I realize that I was actually intending on writing about something entirely different, but I'll have to do a part deux to bring this story to a close, lol. That's usually how my mind works. I have a story to tell, but then a somewhat more interesting sub-story occurs. I'm sure it's annoying for anyone who hears me tell a story, or it could be just multi-layered and more interesting. Maybe I should have an informal poll on that and see what the reader's choice award says, lol. So, in this instance, my secondary story about the swimming is now the primary story. I had meant to write about Drew and how I was asked how old he was. The title actually has to do with days vs. weeks vs. months. And *that* story would have gone into another story about a little girl who attended a daycare I worked at over ten years ago. You'll have to wait for the part deux to see how that lovely story ends up.