Thankful Thursday!

Today I am "thankful" for the opportunity that my school district and the YMCA in our community provides for 3rd graders...and particularly MY 15 - 3rd graders.  They get to have a few swimming lessons free of charge.  We go during the middle of the day for an hour and on those days I will say it is very hard to get them to concentrate much on 'Readin  'Writin  and 'Rithmatic!!! But we try! They are so excited and all smiles and bouncing off the walls. It is really funny to sit back and watch actually.  A lot of them have NEVER swam in a pool/lake/pond etc. so they are... let's say... PETRIFIED! Others are like little fish in the water that seldom come up for air.  I'm so grateful that they have the opportunity to "learn" a little bit about safety in the water and how to do the strokes and hopefully be able to take care of themself in any water situation. I tease them and tell them they have now had their "bath for the week!" I also tell them how LUCKY they are to get to do this!! I go into the "When I was 3rd grade...." stories and they just stare at me like I'm out of the prehistoric days. Yes, yes....times really change!  

*To protect privacy, I didn't share any close up pictures of the kiddos.