My niece, Mary Kathleen ("Kate") was apparently very appropriately named. I talked to my sister last night and we laughed for quite a while about some of Kate's recent "scheduling" activities. She is 6 (turning 7 tomorrow). Since she was little, others in our family have said she was definitely named after the right relative. I never necessarily saw it since it was usually when she was in the middle of a huge temper tantrum or something like that. I, however, saw my first true sign of similarity during the last school year when I stayed in her room one night. On the back of her door was a schedule - handwritten and divided out by day. It listed her normal weekly activities, including ballet and whatever sport she was playing at the time. Boy, was I proud to see such a neatly outlined schedule come out of a first grader.
Their family is heading to Destin this weekend to spend a week there. Over the past weekend they were all in Denver for a wedding and Kate and Molly were left with one of Sean's best friends (Kollen) and his fiance to "plan" the beach trip. Apparently when Kate woke up Saturday morning, the first thing she did was make a schedule of what they were going to do for their Destin trip. It started with Friday night: drive to Houston, stay at Kollen's. Saturday, 3:30am: wake up, get carried to the car, go back to sleep. 7:30am: drive through Whataburger. 2:00pm: pick up mom and Bennett from the airport, and so on and so on. What a planner!! I always used to make schedules for Kelly and myself when we would spend the night together and I'd get so frustrated that 1) she was never interested in making the schedule with me, and 2) she was never interested in following the schedule once I had made it. Sigh. Maybe it was because the schedule always began at 6:00am Saturday: wake up. 6:15am: eat breakfast. 6:30am: watch cartoons, and so on.
This picture is from the first meet I saw her swim in, when she was still 4. She's the tiny one in the blue suit. I was so excited for her and to see the meet and was just a little concerned when the gun went off. Instead of diving/frog leaping in the water like all the other kids, she calmly turned around, dropped to one knee and then the other, slid into the water, and then started swimming. Did I mention how far she has come?
Their family is heading to Destin this weekend to spend a week there. Over the past weekend they were all in Denver for a wedding and Kate and Molly were left with one of Sean's best friends (Kollen) and his fiance to "plan" the beach trip. Apparently when Kate woke up Saturday morning, the first thing she did was make a schedule of what they were going to do for their Destin trip. It started with Friday night: drive to Houston, stay at Kollen's. Saturday, 3:30am: wake up, get carried to the car, go back to sleep. 7:30am: drive through Whataburger. 2:00pm: pick up mom and Bennett from the airport, and so on and so on. What a planner!! I always used to make schedules for Kelly and myself when we would spend the night together and I'd get so frustrated that 1) she was never interested in making the schedule with me, and 2) she was never interested in following the schedule once I had made it. Sigh. Maybe it was because the schedule always began at 6:00am Saturday: wake up. 6:15am: eat breakfast. 6:30am: watch cartoons, and so on.Kate and Molly and Kollen also planned "theme nights" for when they are on the trip. Molly picked an 80s night, presumably because they just had an 80s night when she was at camp. Kate, of course, planned a princess night. When Kollen asked what he was supposed to be when all the girls in the house were going to be princesses, Kate immediately responded "a frog." That's my girl.
Another reason I'm so proud is her swim team performance this summer. After being the littlest kid on the team and at most of the meets the past 2 years (and even asking "am I always going to be last?"), she stuck with it and was finally able to kick some serious 6 and under butt, even bringing home a blue ribbon or two this season.
This picture is from the first meet I saw her swim in, when she was still 4. She's the tiny one in the blue suit. I was so excited for her and to see the meet and was just a little concerned when the gun went off. Instead of diving/frog leaping in the water like all the other kids, she calmly turned around, dropped to one knee and then the other, slid into the water, and then started swimming. Did I mention how far she has come?
This picture is her in one of her first speedos - it was very tough finding ones that would fit her!
Comments
I have a feeling that an Ironman may be in her future one day. What a great thing it is for her to be learning how to swim at such an early age and to not have a fear of the water.
I had enrolled my son at swim lessons at the Y but it only ever lasted two weeks and he never really seemed to be progressing over time. Two years ago I signed him up for the neighborhood swim team and he made such fast progress. Much more than he had with the swim lessons at the Y.
Swim Team is so great for the kids!