Oh the emotion

This girl has had a love/hate relationship with swimming her entire life.  She hated swimming lessons when she was 3 because they wanted her to put her face in the water.  Then, she loved them when she was 5 and wanted to do swim team.  She won her first back stroke race and I thought she would never feel such joy again in her life.  She kept going with a determination that I have never seen in her during the lapathon that year and made her grandparents owe $100 to teh team (I thought she would do maybe 5 laps and she did 20).  Oops

We couldn't do swim team last summer because of my work schedule but, after a lot of emotion from me, we did find one for this winter.  A. wanted to swim for the YMCA which is 20 miles from our house, practices every day and cost about $700 when all said and done.  I couldn't handle the baby being there every day, and it was too much money.  But, oh the mother's guilt when I had to tell her no. Anyway, we now go about 15 miles away to a team that practices 2x weekly and is less than half the cost.  WHEW.

I thought A. would love it the entire time.  But, the hate reared its ugly head again.  The first night, the coaches put her with the 9/10 year olds because she was doing so well.  A., apparently did not think she was doing so well and she cried because it was too hard.  Then, the next week, we pepped her up for it so much that she just KNEW she could swim with the 9/10 year olds.  Well, they moved her back down to the 7/8's because she cried the week before.  Then, she cried because she wasn't good enough.  Oh the DRAMA.  The next week, she cried because she didn't have any friends there and some of the girls were laughing and joking arounds; they must be laughing at her... 

Three drama filled practices and I, the mom that won't allow quitters, was ready to throw in the towel.  It was about that time, that my girl found the love again.  She got bumped into a relay which gave her 4 events.  Yahoo!!  She did well and was happy at practice again.  Until... her score was recorded wrong by 10 seconds on the computer which dumped her back out of said relay.  The tears caused by rejection got into her head and she lost time on all of her events that week.  

So, here we are at the end of the season.  One more meet to go and we will see how we end.  Love, or Hate.  I don't know...