How to raise boys

Many times people will come up to me and comment on how polite, kind and well mannered my 4 boys are. This is an illusion. My boys are not well mannered – they’re exhausted!! My secret? SWIMMING

When my oldest was 18 months old it was clear he was going to be a handful. When I was pregnant with my 2nd son I didn’t think I was going to make it through what with chasing him everywhere and the strain and stress of the pregnancy. I can remember one time being on the bed with him and begging him to just go to sleep. Instead he was jumping all over the place and having a good time. I finally told him he could jump as much as he wanted too, but he couldn’t jump on me AND he wasn’t allowed to get off of the bed, and that if he did get off of the bed I was going to spank him. So there I lay, like a beached whale, bobbing up and down as my delighted toddler jumped enthusiastically around me. From a sheer lack of sleep and energy, I fell asleep, only to awake with a start. It was quiet!! Too QUIET! Something must be wrong!!!

Actually everything was fine. My toddler had jumped himself silly and was sleeping at my feet at the end of the bed. A light bulb went off in my head. After that I tried to get him to do some really really active stuff in the afternoon before naptime.

Calvin continued to be a challenge as he grew and when I compared him to other children his age he was very very active. I have no doubt that if I had sent him to regular school he would have been labeled as hyperactive.

When he was about 8 years old I discovered the local swim team and life changed. That kid was never the same after spending a couple of hours in the water practicing with the swim team. Note this is NOT the same as swim lessons at your local Y. I mean after Calvin knew all of the strokes, this was swimming laps and doing drills. He came home and was docile the rest of the evening.

So that’s my secret and it has been with the other four, my curent 6- year-old has just started swimming classes. So this is how it plays out for this summer: At 6:30 a.m., my oldest is driven to the pool by my husband for an hour and a half of practice. At 8:00 my middle two go to swimming until 9:30 and then at 10:00 the littlest son has his swim class. I made Izzy wait a year because she’s only four and because I needed to pace myself financially. Next year all 5 of them will be swimming.

They come back, they’re ready to work, read, do a little school work and then at night they’re ready for bed. Really… it’s better than Ritalin. A couple of hours in the pool takes the fight out of em… I highly recommend it!

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