Waterbabies report card

Emma was in waterbabies swim class for the last two weeks. This meant that we went to the pool together every morning and splashed around for 30 minutes. Not bad work if you can get it, especially when it is 100+ degrees. Yay for DC in the summer.

Emma was a big fan of swim class. She loved kicking and jumping off the wall, and especially loved watching me blow bubbles and go underwater. When it came time for her to go underwater she was less enthused. Every time I dunked her she would come back up sputtering and with her eyes wide open, with a look on her face that said “LADY, WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?” Some of her classmates never even went under the water though, so I was very proud of her, even if the feeling was not mutual.

On the final day of class all of the babies got report cards. Emma got a 3 out of 3 on “Kick, Kick, Kick” and a 1 on “Blowing Bubbles”. Understandable since she was a rock star with the kicking and didn’t blow a single bubble till the last day. She got a 2 on “Go Underwater,” though, as did the aforementioned classmates who never went under. I know this because we mommies compared our kids’ report cards after class. The mommies of the non-underWaterbabies were amazed that Emma had not been rewarded with a 3 for her efforts.

As I discussed this with Mike on IM, we both, with very little irony, agreed that our baby was clearly the best swimmer in the class and obviously the teacher had just gotten it wrong. Harumph. Then there was a pause in our conversation as we both had the same thought. Oh my god, we had become those parents. The parents whose kids can do no wrong. The parents who CLEARLY are better judges of their kid’s accomplishments than any so-called teacher. The parents I have always looked at with contempt because of their inability to see that their child might not be perfect.

I guess we have a few more years to get this under control before Emma’s teachers become the victims of our love-of-child induced psychosis. Better get to work.