I used to burden myself with the notion that I must teach my children all things. I am, after all, homeschooling mother. The bigger the challenge, bring it on!

That was back when I was schooling two children and having babies and what not.

I found out that I can’t legally teach everything, (hello, driver’s ed!), and I physically can’t teacher other things, not the least of which is swimming!

I can’t do much more than get the kids to the pool and have them practice what someone else taught them. So imagine my relief and joy when I was able to coach my 9 year old to dive yesterday at my brother and sister-in-law’s pool.

It was a lovely scene. I’m holding the 3 year old, who’s doing her usual flailing and trying to get away, but don’t you dare put me down mommy dance, and I’m watching the 7 year old who knows enough about swimming to scare me to death as he inches toward the deep water. Meanwhile, my 11 year old, who knows how to dive, but refuses, was doing something I no doubt considered slacking, because she wasn’t swimming laps and she wasn’t using the diving board. At least she wasn’t drowning, either.

The 7 year old is very driven and competitive, and she wanted to learn to dive. I have so many children that I could have sworn we’d been through this drill before–last year, actually. That was probably with the 11 year old…

Anyway, I’m barking out commands the whole time, rocking my old lady cap again. “tuck your chin,…” “I know,” she interrupts, and she demonstrates what to do with her arms. “Streamline!” I am a drill sergeant with this poor kid. I command the 11 year old to dive and show her sister how it’s done. Eleven year old is not thrilled to dive, even though she is a born teacher if I’ve ever seen one.

I am watching 7 year old, holding 3 year old, commanding 9 year old to squat and do a granny dive/baby dive, and telling her big sister to demonstrate. We are the only people in the pool at the time, but there are several adults having a barbecue behind us.

I am embarrassed by my loud forcefulness, but that’s me in the pool with the kids. All fun and games.

After a while, 9 year old gets the hang of the baby dives and is ready to stand and dive off the board. She does it! We are thrilled. She tries again, and it looks like a flop to me. “Was that a flop or a dive?” I ask her. She doesn’t know. “Does it hurt? If it hurts, it’s a flop. If it doesn’t, it’s a dive.” One of the adults at the barbecue laughs at my assessment. It hurt.

Unfased, 9 year old continues at it until she can consistently dive. Then she was ready for a canonball.

Which inspired 7 year old to do canonballs in the shallow end, and I’m thinking, is it time to go yet?

We were really excited this morning to hear about a snow day. Maybe I wouldn’t have to drive out in the cold.

But the Y was open. When school was closed. My daughter and I had to brave the icy roads and windy conditions so people could get their laps in.

My daughter couldn’t scoff as much about it as she’d like; we both know I’m one of those folks who likes to hit the pool, cold or no.

She worried about the possibility of snow bound kids flooding the pool doing dangerous stunts, but open swim didn’t begin until my daughter’s shift was over.

Instead she got a constant stream of small groups of lap swimmers. The true swim devotees. I got an email from the swim team stating practice would be tonight as planned.

Do you head to the pool when everyone else is snowed in?

I was in the market for a new gym. The Y had lost its luster, and I was ready to raise my game. I wanted a gym where I could actually learn to play tennis, but I didn’t want to lose the pool.

When I went to visit the gym with the tennis program, I asked if they had a pool. They are affiliated with the university, and gym members use their olympic sized pool for lap swimming.

I signed up on the spot.

Then I proceeded to struggle with trying to schedule pool time. Last Wednesday, I finally took the plunge. I swam 1000 and was exhausted. My 100 IM time was 10 seconds slower than the last time I swam; I was struggling during that set.

But, I must say that swimming 25 pounds lighter than last year makes a difference in my stamina. I was tired because I’ve been working out with weights, and my arms and legs were a little sore, but I didn’t have the breathing issues I’ve had when I’m heavier.

I think I’ll get back on the bi-weekly swim schedule, now that I know which day works for me.

That was the exit advice to the whole swim class tonight. Lie on your belly on your bed without a pillow. Stretch your arms overhead in a streamline and count to 5.

I watched as my son stretched his arms in front of himself, like superman.

He has a ways to go.

I had noticed a difference in my endurance before, and I wasn’t sure whether it was due to weight loss or aerobic fitness. I had attributed it to weight loss, but now I think it’s because of aerobic fitness. What changed my mind was Friday, August 13th, when I did some triathlon training, or a triathlon workout. I did it in reverse. I ran a mile (in slightly over 15 minutes), rode a stationary bike for 15 minutes, and then swam 500 yards. Although my legs were sore from the running, biking, and weightlifting from the day before, my heart found it easier to swim. I also felt so warmed up when I got in the pool! It felt like it does mid 1000 yard set! I was so excited. A triathlon seems more attainable, not to mention like the perfect cross-disciplinary workout for me. When I say that, I mean that multi-disciplinary workouts seem like the right thing for me, in order to avoid injury, especially.

I think I should probably ride for longer than 15 minutes next time, because in 15 minutes, I ride just under 4 miles. I’d like to do at least 5 miles, and would prefer 10. As for the swimming, I still struggle with my freestyle. I feel an increase in stamina, but I still panic about my breathing while swimming freestyle. I would like to hope I could gradually put this behind me, blah, blah, blah, but I think I will have to force this change.

I squeezed in another swim session during my daughter’s lifeguard shift yesterday.

The pool was crowded, so there were three of us crammed into a single lane for lap swimming. I haven’t shared lanes in a while, and I self-consciously hugged the lane lines most of the time.

I was tired, but motivated to swim better in the shared lane. This meant that I swam 900 yards total–no elementary backstroke at all. That is quite a feat for me. My daughter still tells me that my freestyle breathing is wrong. She says I move my body too much. I must have created that tick by the constant breathing drills I do.

It was good training for Masters swimming, I’m sure. I never see those folks swim 1 per lane.