I tried to upload a video of Matilda playing a couple of weeks ago, but it didn’t post correctly. I’ll have to fix that when I figure out how.
This weekend, we went to the lake so that Matilda could practice swimming and play in the sand. (We don’t have a sand box because of the multitude of feral cats that use any loose soil or mulch as a litter box. Also, tiger mosquitoes are breeding somewhere along our property line and we can’t figure out where.) She’s gotten pretty good at swimming in my old apartment pool. She’s been wearing the same “vest” as she wore last year, but this year she can keep herself above the water for a short period of time. Her vest was part of a swim suit, and wasn’t designed to hold a child above the water. It’s more for support. She was much less scared to swim in the lake water this year. She even figured out how to walk out of the water, once it was shallow enough for her to stand. She was too excited to close her mouth when she was swimming, so she may have swallowed a good portion of the lake. The water and weather were really nice for the few hours that we were there.
The other kids and parents, though, were a little crazy this weekend. They installed a fence around the swimming area to force people to pay to swim. In previous years, we would see plenty of people without bracelets (to prove that they paid to swim). The cost for a family of 4 is $12. It’s not a lot to ask for park clean-up and supervision. I guess the expectations of the public in a park are not that of a pool. One of the lifeguards had to kick an entire family of 8 out of water outside of the enclosed beach area. They thought that they could swim there and not have to pay. He also had to explain repeatedly to another man (who snuck over either from hopping the fence or swimming around the fence) that he needed to buy a bracelet in order to be in the swimming area. Hopefully that nonsense will die down as the season goes on so that the lifeguards can pay attention to the water.
They shut down the water for awhile to check bracelets and do a water search. Right before that happened, I watched a 5 year old with downs walk up from the water (as we were coming down from the bathrooms) all the way up to the parking lot. I asked the ranger if they were looking for a kid with downs, but they were not. It was just for practice. I guess he came back, eventually.
After Allan dug a hole and helped Matilda build some castles, she got bored of playing with us. She found 6 year old twins to play with closer to the water. She brought her sand toys down to the water and started building and filling holes with them. Shortly after she made those friends, though, it was getting very cloudy. When I went to collect Matilda and her toys, I saw one of the 6 year old girls, standing 6 inches from her mother, sipping water and dirt out of one of Matilda’s mini-castle molds as if it was juice. When I asked for the toy so that we could go, the girl threw a fit. Sorry to take your muddy treat away, kid!
By the time we packed up and were leaving, the lifeguards were closing down the lake because of rain and lightening. We had to wait a good 20 minutes to rinse off our feet because more unsupervised kids were playing in the water. Whoever installed the faucet put a shower nozzle on the end of it. Really, they should have left it as is to discourage people from hanging out there all day. When they were done, a man washed his kids down as if it was their daily bath. Luckily, we weren’t trapped behind a train of cars to get out of the area.
No pictures this time. It was way too hazy and then cloudy.
School is almost out. Next up is getting Matilda tested for physical therapy and figuring out more aggressive ways to sell our house. I have a feeling that Matilda won’t qualify for physical therapy because she isn’t globally delayed. I brought home an early childhood test that I need to do on one of my students this week. Matilda is in the 4-6 age range for language, but is in the 24 month age range for gross motor. Judging by what I’ve seen in neighborhood parks and public areas, I have a feeling that she’s not going to be a priority.
Our agent hasn’t advertised our house as she promised. It is not on craigslist and is very difficult to find when doing an internet search. Her only suggestion is dropping the price. Judging by the house prices in our neighborhood, it is very appropriately priced. Her complaint is that it’s small and not meant for a family. We’re going to have to have a sit-down with her and figure out if she has the ability to be very aggressive. If not, she’s going to have to be fired.
