How Swimming Has Changed

by Tom Johnson on Aug 19, 2011 •
categories: family

Shannon is still out at Education Week at nights, so I took the kids swimming last night. The kids absolutely love swimming, but I must admit that swimming has lost some of its appeal for me. As a kid I could jump and dive and swim all over as I wanted. But now as an adult, I mostly hold Molly, and I keep an eye on Lucy. I'm more of a buoy than a fish. It's probably good exercise for the kids, but for me it's an exercise in patience. I prefer to swim when Shannon and I can switch off holding the baby and watching Lucy. Still, it's fun to see the kids having so much fun.

If there's one thing I've realized this week, it's that kids like to be active. It's odd given that kids supposedly watch 6 hours of television a day (not our kids, though). In general, kids would mostly like to be playing -- riding bikes, running in the grass, maneuvering around jungle gyms, swimming, roller skating, exploring new areas, kicking a soccer ball, building forts, racing around gyms, and anything else that involves playful activity. I think if I point my kids toward this direction, they would play in active ways for hours.

The only problem is that this requires a lot of time.

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