Swim Team

 I have fond memories of being dragged to swim meets as a child. I remember my role as being a mere accompaniment as my sister was actually talented and I was too young to stay home by myself so I was made to go. It wasn't all bad though. As I recall we rode our bikes to practice and the swim club and I imagine I enjoyed that portion more than the swimming. I wasn't particularly fond of the weenie bikini I was forced to wear but I sure liked eating Jello out of a box with my finger! And so my children will now have the chance to form such memories.
  They have been asking for years if they could join the local swim club and associated team but it just hasn't worked out. Until now. Due to numerous circumstances we can't pack up the family van and take the big summer trip like years past so we are stuck in the desert for the summer. This means we needed something to do and swim team became the something. This week was the first meet of what sounds like very many. They weren't rock stars but neither child that participated needed to be rescued mid lap either so I deemed it a success.

Harry Potter

The make up of The Boy's class last year was a combined 1-3 grades. This was both good and bad. The good is obviously the chance and opportunity to work above grade level; the bad was exposure to some non curriculum content that he, or I, might not be ready to handle. One such topic was the Harry Potter series. From what I understand there was a great deal of time spent discussing the tomes during lunch, recess, and when they were supposed to be doing other stuff in class. He generally knows the stories through and through without ever reading the books or seeing the movies. So we decided for his summer reading he could dive into the books. And dive in he did. He had the first two books finished by Tuesday night after starting them on the way home from camp on Sunday night! Part of letting him read the books was all reading members of the household were going to read them concurrently so we could discuss. This included me. I was a day late to start and now I am a book and a half behind! It appears I have some homework to do.