5AF Parenting Thread

Postby **meow** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:50 pm

I guess this goes here, but I scheduled my vasectomy the other day. I don’t know how to feel about it

Postby **Factorial** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:51 pm

Where I lived in GA had neighborhood pool and my ex was briefly on the HOA. At one of the meetings they were told that one of the high school age lifeguards was caught blowing her bf behind the pool shed door by the security cameras.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:38 pm

I went to all of the prenatal classes with my wife, but never even thought about going to the breastfeeding class. Huh...

Shmenguin, you are so right with the swimming stuff. The worst was when I got there before my wife and daughter did (they hit traffic), so I am sitting by myself, off from the rest of the parents, trying to play it as cool as possible.We did ours at the Y.

She's starting soccer this spring, I can't wait.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:41 pm

My wife never did any of the classes. Her three older sisters all told her it was a giant waste of time so I was spared it.

Postby **MWB** » Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:51 pm

I guess this goes here, but I scheduled my vasectomy the other day. I don’t know how to feel about it

This could be in my near future as well.

Postby **Orlando Penguin** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:08 am

I guess this goes here, but I scheduled my vasectomy the other day. I don’t know how to feel about it

If you're a basketball junkie, you schedule it for the Wednesday before the NCAA Tournament and then you're laid up the rest of the weekend. Just you and your remote and years of having to pay back the Mrs. for making her deal with the house and kids while you've got the feet up in the recliner and the frozen peas on the man parts.

Postby **dodint** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:43 am

I hear at least one person say that joke annually.

Postby **dodint** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:44 am

I have this bad feeling that dodint will be a father before tif owns another house.
Possible, tough to buy a house by accident.

But I'm getting my vasectomy this spring so time is ticking.
First weekend of March Madness

There is the one from 2016.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:10 am

I hear at least one person say that joke annually.

Hey, it's good advice. And it's topical every year.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:22 am

Re swim class: our son spent what seemed like 6 months in the first level of swim class while other kids kept graduating onto the next level. It wasn't like he was a slow learner, it just didn't seem like they would work on the areas he needed help.

Once he got over the hurdle of that first class, he's flown through 3 levels in about 2 months. I'm 100% convinced it was his teacher. It wasn't a male/female thing, just that his first teacher was that much worse than the other ones he's had. It's also helped that he went from being 1 of 4 in his class to 1 of 2 and 1 of 1 recently.

Our district is opening up deck hockey lessons for his age group soon. Not sure if we can swing both classes, and I'm a huge proponent of getting him into hockey. But man is he on a roll with swimming that I really don't want him to stop right now.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:24 am

What age did he start taking swim lessons? I waited too long (IMO), and really want to be able to snorkel with my daughter on vacation in the future.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:26 am

I distinctly remember going to swim lessons at the Y on Saturday mornings for YEARS, working my way up through the ranking levels: tadpole, pollywog, etc.

Our Y here does two week (eight days, 30 minutes each) lessons at a time, usually taught by a high school kid with little or no training. It's awful, and unproductive. I think weekly repetition over a long period of time is the only way to build good swimming habits, but that doesn't happen here. Is this the case elsewhere? Or just a small town thing?

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:27 am

What age did he start taking swim lessons? I waited too long (IMO), and really want to be able to snorkel with my daughter on vacation in the future.

It was about a year ago, so at age 3. Way sooner than when I took lessons as a kid. I was probably 5, and remember chickening out at the final test where we had to swim across the width of a pool, in the deep end, on our own.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:32 am

I distinctly remember going to swim lessons at the Y on Saturday mornings for YEARS, working my way up through the ranking levels: tadpole, pollywog, etc.

Our Y here does two week (eight days, 30 minutes each) lessons at a time, usually taught by a high school kid with little or no training. It's awful, and unproductive. I think weekly repetition over a long period of time is the only way to build good swimming habits, but that doesn't happen here. Is this the case elsewhere? Or just a small town thing?

We researched this before signing up for lessons. The more we heard, the more we understood that you get what you pay for. Most kids that go through classes at the Y, or a local high school or other class where the teacher/kid ratio is greater than 1:5, don't end up having a good experience. The teachers spend their time working with the kids that are better, and the shy kids also get left out.

Our son goes to Goldfish swim school and it's top notch. Yes, we pay much more for it than we would anywhere else, but except for the one teacher, we've had great success. Our son loves it, and the teachers are great. Most of them still are in their young 20's, but seem to interact really well with the kids. We go once a week for 30 minutes.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:32 am

Gotcha, thanks. I'm definitely going to get her started this year. Every summer, she gets braver and braver in the pool. The ocean is going to be more challenging, and I have a feeling that being able to see fish swimming all around you is going to make it even harder for her.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:35 am

Source of the post Our son goes to Goldfish swim school and it's top notch.

When I looked into it, Goldfish and Aqua-Tots were the two top-rated places in my area. I considered the Y, which does have good reviews here, but think it'd be beneficial to go to a place that does nothing but swim lessons.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:41 am

Source of the post Our son goes to Goldfish swim school and it's top notch.
When I looked into it, Goldfish and Aqua-Tots were the two top-rated places in my area. I considered the Y, which does have good reviews here, but think it'd be beneficial to go to a place that does nothing but swim lessons.

Do it. My son's first swim "lesson" he spent the entire time crying while being held by one of the teachers. Now he's swimming across the pool with no help.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:42 am

Another possibly dumb question: in the pool, is it just the kids and the instructors, or are you in there with your kid (with the assumption that this is the beginner's class)?

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:52 am

Up to age 2 or 3 the parents are in there with the kids. After that, it's just the kid and the instructor.

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:59 am

Up to age 2 or 3 the parents are in there with the kids. After that, it's just the kid and the instructor.

Out of curiosity, did you start out with two classes per week? This place recommends that, though I'm not sure if that's truly necessary or just a way to bring in a few more bucks each month.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:37 am

Up to age 2 or 3 the parents are in there with the kids. After that, it's just the kid and the instructor.
Out of curiosity, did you start out with two classes per week? This place recommends that, though I'm not sure if that's truly necessary or just a way to bring in a few more bucks each month.

No, just once a week. IMO, if you have the option of having your wife take your child during off-peak hours, do that instead. It's less crazy (Saturday mornings were a zoo) and there's a good chance your child will get more attention due to lower census. Bad thing is you won't be able to attend as often.

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:44 am

Thanks. I can actually take her on my work from home days to beat out the larger crowds, so that shouldn't be an issue. If twice/week was really expected, I was going to try and schedule both classes with the same instructor.

My daughter was excited about the prospect of going to swim class, so I'm going to sign her up today and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice!

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:02 am

It's good that she's already excited. Initially my son wasn't so into it, but now he can't wait to go.

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:20 am

I was looking at another place, but I think I'm going to give our local Goldfish facility a call first. Their pricing makes it sound like 2 classes/week is actually cheaper than 1 class/week.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:27 am

I was looking at another place, but I think I'm going to give our local Goldfish facility a call first. Their pricing makes it sound like 2 classes/week is actually cheaper than 1 class/week.

They bill us monthly, so maybe it's cheaper /class, but not /month. Either way, it would still be a deal if you could swing it.