Tag: teaching

February: SNOWED out! (and FREE CHOCOLATE)

sad snowman

So, we’re all taking the day off. The kids don’t have school, ETS is officially closed due to weather (which means I’m not teaching until next week).

I’m getting sick of winter already. They say a certain PA groundhog can determine wether spring will arrive soon, or if winter has six more weeks to do its worst. This all happens on February 2. Tomorrow. Um… I don’t think we need Punxsutawney Phil to tell us the inevitable. Do you?

UPDATE: Feb 3, 2011. In a meteorological SHOCKER, Punxsy Phil did NOT see his shadow, so he predicts an early spring. In this 125 year tradition, the groundhog sees his shadow 9 times out of 10, and then goes back into his den. (Or he could be scared by all the flashing cameras.)

AND! Can someone tell me why February can’t borrow a day from January and a day from March to get up to a more normal 30 day month? Those few days seem, well, important.

FEBRUARY FREEBIES:
For 3 years now, I’ve used February to give away gifts. I have the first one here: 10 oz of Premium Chocolate (premium for central Pennsylvania, that is.)

To try for this goodie, leave a comment, before Feb 14, telling us about the last fantastic chocolate experience you’ve had. What did you eat, etc? One fortunate or creative reader will get the Gold. Good luck.

February prize.

Learning to Swim

photo by stephen jones (steve p2008 -Flickr)

I couldn’t swim until I was 11 years old, and even then, it was a pretty panicky endeavor.

Today I taught both of my kids (ages 7.5 and 10) how to swim in about 3 hours.

Both were super afraid of being in the deep section when we started. Because they trusted me; it worked. I gave them pushes to the side, and skill tips, and once the fear was nearly gone, they could do it.

Much has to do with trusting that one is fairly buoyant in the water. Thrashing is not helpful, tense muscles tend to sink. For my son, who was quite scared, I told swim, “swim gently.” Something clicked. He saw/experienced that when taking his time, he could maneuver and stay afloat. The terror of sinking like a rock eased away. He probably jumped in the deep end to swim about 150 times after that.

For my daughter, distracting her with techniques, like a flutter kick and slicing arms through the water, distracted her from her over-thinking. The paralyzing fright of trying something new and “dangerous” settled out, and made way for real progress. I would hold her under her belly, to qualm her fears, and then I’d take her into deeper water so she wouldn’t stunt her learning by cutting it short: standing up each time she wasn’t sure of things, or when she felt scared–which, at the start, was about every 4 seconds. Once she saw how far she could go, by obeying my instructions, she realized she was ALREADY swimming. Then the fear (well, more the 50% of it) subsided. She got far more comfortable in the water.

It’s like that in life too, isn’t it. Much of what we think is beyond us, or too scary is part of how we’ve let our fears and false notions get in the way. We all must learn to float and not fight as God teaches us how to manage deeper water. Otherwise we are trapped in the kiddie pool.

How old were you when you learned to swim? Or do you have Aquaphobia a.k.a fear of water?

In what ways, to you, is the art and skill of swimming related to growth, or your own personal journey?

Any other thoughts?

P.S.

I’m looking for a pop up camper… keep your eyes peeled.

Coming Soon…

My August project will be to summarize some helpful spiritual disciplines, and design some easy-to-understand materials. Tell me what disciplines or spiritual formation topics you’d like to know about, for yourself, your small group, church, family, or other uses. Different forms of prayer? Lectio Divina? Meditation? Fasting? Sabbath? Examen? Spiritual Direction? It’s time to put all these graduate school studies to good use!