We had an outstanding day at the pool yesterday. It was hot! And the kids really enjoyed the water. We had three graduates to the swimming end - Nikolai, Eli, and Khalik. They were able to jump in and swim enough to make it safe for them to swim in deeper water. I was really surprised by Nikolai who is only four. He's quite a little swimmer. We went over to the board, but it's just a little beyond his reach.
I took Addie and Alexis to the deeper end, but they are still swimming perpendicularly and need to lengthen out before they are safe enough in deeper water. Giovanni and Braedon are still clingy as well. They love the attention of jumping off the side and paddling, but when I, as buoy, get in the way, they are just not ready.
Most of the children are making their own way nicely. Sometimes a little help is all they need.
We stayed in the pool until 12:30 and then made our way over to the picnic area. It wasn't long before the pool was closed because of weather. We played about an hour at the picnic area which was nice because everyone else went home. Then we climbed back on the bus and got home just before the rain. It was a splendid day.
One of the locals was kind of rude to us, and this is something we have to face nearly every year. The resentment that we are there is very high. I've been told since 1983 when I started taking groups of children to the pool that we have no right to be there - that we are riff raff and that these "day care" kids belong in "day care." My response is always the same: The children at the Garden School make a bigger investment in the Newburgh Pool any day we come than all of them combined. Yesterday we had 46 people at the pool and we paid for that. If they really think that because parents work and contribute to the workforce, and actually make places like the Newburgh Pool possible through taxes, that their children should be barred from swimming, they better think it through again. If they want places like our pool to remain open, they need to remain open to the school children!
And just a note for parents: Our children are the best behaved children at the pool. They are very courteous and considerate. So hurray for us.
Today is another swim day and then Friday we have this marvelous tour at the Freedom Festival, so we will get to see the air show plus see the boats "up close and personal." Not sure where we will go for our picnic, and then we're off to see the airplanes at the airport. We usually get to tour inside the planes and then there's this great air slide! Then... we'll stop for ice cream. What a day!
1 comment:
Kudos to Miss Judy and the GS staff who take the kids to the pool twice each week. I was there yesterday and saw the operation firsthand, but did not hear any rude remarks about/towards the GS group. Many of the other adults at the pool were dubious at first, but really had no reasons for complaint. It is definitely more crowded in the shallow end, but the GS kids don't intentionally bother the other kids, they don't splash, scream endlessly or run. Some people will not move beyond doubtful and will always see negatives, whether real or imagined. BTW, I saw and heard some of the "locals" (why do three 9 year old boys need ALL of the noodles? And the lifeguards were glad another boy didn't bring his bucket that day - something about swinging it and yelling at anyone who comes near him?)
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