Swimming

Wendy loves swimming and my mum, Josie, takes her swimming every week. Wendy has been coming on by leaps and bounds and is confident in the water.

After an hour or two, they get out and get changed then go back to Josie's house for a special ritual. Wendy gets out a small table and a small stool to sit on while her great grandma cooks her an egg with toast 'soldiers'. They have lunch; Wendy plays in the garden or they go and feed the ducks, then go back to Mum's house. Her Mum, Caelyn, is expecting their 2nd baby and she gets terribly tired, so we have advised her to stay in bed and rest for a few hours instead of trying to catch up with the housework, as it has long term benefits as opposed to clearing up and having to start from scratch again an hour or two later.

In the Changing Room ready for her swim



In distance terms, she really gets around. She is a child who needs to be active and to go outside every day, regardless of the weather. After a couple of hours of swimming, she wants to run around the garden or play 'Catch Me' or go to the swings in the park. Her mum asked me once if I thought she was hyperactive, and the answer is 'no'. She is a healthy, happy 2yr old with exuberant high spirits.





The exercise is good for both of them, and this relaxed and happy sort of event builds good relationships and happy memories. For psychosocial development, one on one time with someone who does fun stuff and thinks you are great is excellent. We call these years the 'formative' years, but do we ever stop to think what we mean when we say that? Simply, her personality, self esteem, confidence and temperament are developing. What Wendy learns now about herself and who she is in relation to others and to society in general lays the foundation for who she believes herself to be for the rest of her life. She loves her Nursery School, the families she visits with her parents and the other adults in her life, like Auntie Michelle and Richard, Sean and her granny. All of them make her know she has great personal value.



After the swim, its egg and soldiers



She eats hers then asks Josie 'Share me?' She enjoys her food and isn't fussy about what she is given. At the moment she especially loves strawberries, but she loves veggies, fruit, yoghurt, fish (unusual for her age) milk, cheese, eggs. A very mixed diet, and she enjoys it.



And here is the video, one minute long, of her time in the pool today.