The biggest (and most deserved) lollipop ever

Whew. My van and I are tired. We've been doing a lot of running around this week. Madeline and Lydia have a girls club at a friend's house from 9 to 11 in the morning. We hurry home, eat lunch, then head to swimming lessons from 12:30 to 1:00. Go back home for rest time and supper. Then it is off to Vacation Bible School from 6:00 to 8:00. That is a very busy week for this happy-to-just-be-at-home family. Leading a class full of preschoolers at VBS is enough to wear me out. With everything else on top of that, I'm tired. Thankfully, I have had the neighbor girl here to stay with the little girls during some of the running so I don't have to buckle and unbuckle them twenty times a day.

Swimming lessons have been interesting. Madeline has been a superstar. She has generally been afraid of the water. These past few months have been a breakthrough for her, and she is now loving it. Lydia, on the other hand, has been a challenge. The first day she screamed the entire time. It went like this:

Teacher: We are going to practice the back float now.

Lydia: I DON'T WANT TO GET MY FACE WET! I DON'T WANT TO BACK FLOAT! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BACK FLOAT! (in a very loud voice while kicking her legs)

Proceed like that for 30 minutes.

I left because I couldn't handle it and thought maybe she would do better without me there. The teacher was great with her, stearn yet encouraging. I know that Lydia was feeling a tremendous amount of fear. I also know that she has got to get over this fear and learn to swim. So, we went back the next day. I made a deal with Lydia: If she doesn't scream, she can pick out whatever piece of candy she wants from the store. She still screamed.

Today, she did not scream at all. She had a few moments where she was starting to lose it, but got herself under control. She wouldn't jump in to the teacher, so another teacher had to dunk her in. But overall, she did great. It made me get a little verklempt, watching her and imagining all the courage she had to summon. Don't tell, but I think she might have even had a little fun. I am so proud of her. On the way home we stopped at Walgreen's, and this is what she picked out: