Several months ago, back when it was raining, I was working with the kids in the Green group (middle school aged), when it somehow came out that Peter* had never learned to swim. After the initial shock of this, it was decided that once it got warm enough out, we would have a pool party at my apartment complex, and only the Green group would be invited. This would give us a chance to give Peter swimming lessons.
Months later, when it started to warm up, the kids remembered that and started asking about the pool party. I had fully intended to follow through, I was just impressed that they remembered for that long. I figured they must have been really excited about it.
I sent out invitations last week that said that they should call me if they needed a ride, and I would find some way to pick them up. I also convinced one of the Board members to help me chaperone, in case some kids showed up while I was picking kids up.
The only kids who ended up coming were the ones to whom I gave the rides. But we had a great time! We got in a good 4 hours of swimming. I spent a good amount of time trying to teach Peter how to float, and then how to tread water, and how to swim. He can't really do any of them on his own yet, but he came a long way. Especially considering how worried he was about going in (he spent the first half hour wearing my life vest I got for kayaking). He's still not comfortable in the deep end, but he was really excited about learning.
I also taught them how to play Marco Polo. Of course it's a lot harder to play when not everyone is shouting "Polo" after "Marco" is called, but they found the sneaky excuses of being underwater when it was called, or that they whispered it.
When it was over, they didn't want to come out, but they did because I told them it was time to go. Even the Board member commented on how well behaved they were. Why are people always so surprised?
After they got out, they helped me pack up all the food I'd brought out for them and bring it back to my apartment, where we played a few rounds of Just Dance 3 and they called their parents to see if they could come with me to dinner at Miss Barb's house. We, of course, also asked Miss Barb, who was happy to have them over.
On the way to her home in La Verne, as we passed the Lutheran High School, Mora* commented on how nice that area is (comparing it to her area of Pomona). It was like she didn't even realize how close it was until that moment.
As we pulled up to Miss Barb's house, the kids said, "You can tell she's a gardener" before I even pointed out which house was hers. They just knew. :-) They quickly made friends with her dog and 3 bunnies and I took a break while she told them all about rabbits and dogs and the pictures she had hanging on her walls, and the fact that the seashells she uses to decorate her home are all real, and what's for dinner, etc. (How are these kids so full of energy?! They've been swimming all day!)
We had dinner and watched some Wheel of Fortune and had a grand old time. They definitely were doing everything they could to stay longer.
*Names have been changed.
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