Swimming Lessons & Dating

Emily and Eleanor started their swimming lessons this morning. I had it all worked out that we would be at the pool for a half hour on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday until I realized that I had signed Eleanor up for the wrong class. Now we are at the pool for an hour on Monday and Tuesday and a half hour on Thursday and Friday. Zach and Kate did a great job waiting through the lessons today, but as we were leaving Zach kept sticking his finger in the water of the pool and didn't want to leave. Waiting for Eleanor to change and go potty after lessons was a nightmare with Zach mad because I dragged him into the locker room and Kate wanted to walk around outside the changing room. I think Eleanor will be changing at home tomorrow. I fear that the more comfortable Zach and Kate are at the pool, the harder it's going to be to keep them out of the water and content to sit and wait for Emily and Eleanor. We may have to sit on the grass outside of the pool area and wait if they get too restless. Add a baby to the mix in a few weeks and we'll really have some tales to tell! Emily was nervous about having her class in the deep end, but she did a great job swimming with the kick board. As Eleanor's class marched to the deep end of the pool at the end of their lesson to jump into the water, Miranda encouraged Eleanor to get her knees up and march...and I immediately had the thought that Eleanor marches to the beat of her own drum in her own way.

Our family had a nice discussion this evening while eating dinner about dating and choosing a husband to marry. I think it was our first real family discussion at the dinner table. The topic came up when I pointed out to Matt that we received Mallory's wedding announcement. Zoe and Emily wondered if Mallory's husband was a member of our church and we talked about them getting married in the temple. Eleanor was curious about how Matt and I met and wondered if we were in love before we got married. Questions kept coming up from the kids and Matt and I asked them questions to think about, like what is a good age to start seriously dating to look for a husband. It was fun to stick in comments about the silliness of kids their age having a "boyfriend" and asked them if they thought they would marry anyone in their school. The answer was an obvious no since the boys in their school are not members of our church...exactly, so does it make sense to date them? Matt kept driving home the point that they should look for someone who will have a career that pays good money. Zoe mentioned wanting 7 kids, so I encouraged her to find a husband who also wants 7 kids. It is so important for the kids to realize that they need common goals with their spouses BEFORE they get married and to not get trapped in thinking that they can convince their spouses to change AFTER they get married. So anyway, I really enjoyed this conversation with the kids. We had fun talking together and it was a fun topic to discuss in an informal way.