This summer has been far busier than I ever would have anticipated. Who knew that summer activities could eat up so much time? EBoy has officially completed his very first swimming class. I’m proud to announce I officially have a swimmer!

Water has always been a major issue for EBoy starting at birth. Some of his earliest displays of his Sensory Integration Dysfunction involved trying to bathe him as an infant. We followed every trick in the book to try to ease him through his intense reaction to water but nothing worked until we finally just started carrying him into the shower to bath him (skin to skin contact always soothed him). He was over a year old before bathing him in the tub became a viable option without screaming and sheer terror. So, as you can imagine swimming was not high on our radar of things to do.

While I really want my children to feel confident in the water and know water safety, I just couldn’t risk EBoy developing a deep fear of water and having a difficult time recovering. This year we asked him if he wanted swimming lessons and he replied with a big yes. I let him know that he could just try it and we’ll see if he likes it or not. The swimming instructor I found came highly recommended from some of the teachers and parents at his preschool. She is a certified swim instructor and also a PE coach at a local elementary school.

The moms had to bring their kids in and sit on the other side of a wall so we could not be seen. We could hear her teaching our kids from where we were sitting and I was amazed to hear EBoy jumping in and doing great right from the beginning. In his final class he jumped in to swim across to his teacher, dove down to grab rings from the bottom of the pool steps, treaded water, and was fearless and confident in each exercise.

Now, he begs me to go to our neighborhood pool every single day. Only two small issues: 1. the constant rain 2. ETot. I’m not complaining about the rain because the temperature is divine, but Dallas having more rain than Seattle? I’d never thought I’d see the day! The continual rolling thunderstorms does not make it very safe to get in the pool though and some days the water is still too cold to swim in (in Texas in JUNE! wow!) ETot has decided that he is absolutely against this whole “outdoor bath” thing(he was so puzzled during swimming lessons as to why EBoy got to take a bath while he didn’t). All day long while we are home he demands to take a bath! And wash hands! And dump water in as many places as possible if he can get his hands on it! But sadly the pool is just not something he’s willing to partake in.

I’ll continue to take my little fish out as often as we can, I’m just so relieved that EBoy has discovered the joy of swimming.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s hiding under EbonyMom’s skirt most likely its some of these:

I’ve been living in the gym again- spinning to my heart’s content. Although the weight hasn’t fallen off as quickly as I’d like I’ve developed enough junk in the trunk to make Sir MixALot proud. EDad has been very appreciative of my efforts.

This post is part of the blog blast for Sk*rt a new women’s social bookmarking site. For more information check out the parent bloggers network

I’ve always had hopes of starting a family with someone who would be a kind, patient, and exceptional father. You have done all of these things and more than I could have ever dreamed a father could be. Happy Father’s Day- thank you for being the very best Daddy to our boys. They are the sweet and wonderful children they are in large part due to trying to be so much like you.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the strong , intelligent, encouraging, and wise Daddies out there in the blogosphere and beyond.

As a parent one of the most difficult choices I’ve had to encounter is that of vaccinating my children. I was very happy when the Parent Bloggers Network provided me with the opportunity to review a new book Vaccinated. Dr. Paul A. Offit provides detailed history of the discovery, research, and development of the vaccine while reviewing the life of vaccinologist Maurice Hilleman.

So many take for granted just how truly remarkable an age we live in where our children are healthy and able to live without constant worry of dangerous illnesses. Losing an infant to whooping cough or your teenager to diphtheria is no longer a reality for most Americans thanks to the contributions of Maurice Hilleman. Hilleman was a brilliant scientist who is responsible for developing many of the critical vaccines that have benefited not only our country but the world.

The thing that was incredibly eye opening while reading this book is just how recent many of the medical advancements (vaccines, antibiotics, etc.) that we take for granted are. Yet without these advancements many of us reading and blogging today probably wouldn’t be in existence. Just a matter of decades ago children routinely suffered crippling from polio or deafness from the mumps. Our lives are not spent keeping our children inside in fear of illness. The Women’s movement and mothers being able to work outside of the home is greatly enhanced by not having to worry about our children falling deathly ill from being in close quarters in schools or daycares.

Personally I’ve felt multiple levels of parental guilt in the choice to vaccinate my children. I’ve shared a view of pharmaceutical companies being the money hungry, reckless and self benefiting industry as much of our media portrays them to be. Thankfully Dr. Offit has provided a well researched and logical explanation of every facet of vaccinology. Vaccines are manufactured by very few pharmaceutical companies at the present time because their production is not a high income venture. They use extreme caution and care in creation of these serums which protect our lives and those of our families. Many of the vaccinologists put in long hours of dedicated work for little recognition and no intention of gaining anything except the greater good for mankind.

The doctors and researchers creating these vaccines were the parents, grandparents and caring family members who were looking for ways to end the suffering and death of children from disease. Hilleman’s own daughter was suffering from mumps, he swabbed her throat and from his child’s germs was able to create a mumps vaccine which has saved countless lives and families.

While some may find it horrifying to discover the testing of new and never before used medications on children, those with Down’s Syndrome, the military, and even animals the reality is many people voluntarily participated in hopes of giving their loved ones a chance at a long and healthy life. There are 2 cancer vaccines currently in existence, and reading about the work of Hilleman and others gives me hope that there will be more in the future. Of parenting interest, there is also a detailed look at the total fallacy of the existence of a link between autism and vaccines.

Vaccinated is an eye opening and thought provoking looking at vaccines from every possible angle. Although it does have quite a bit of scientific and medical terminology, the author does an excellent job of portraying a logical connection between various components which ultimately worked together to form the basis of our modern day vaccination system. You will certainly be inspired by Maurice Hilleman- a medical hero that I personally owe a huge debt of gratitude for two healthy, happy, and vaccinated boys.

EbonyBoy started karate lessons a few weeks ago. I’m amazed at just how much karate can help the mental, physical, and social development of children. Because Eboy will be starting kindergarden I was concerned at his ability to focus and listen. Karate class has shown him to be able to focus on what the teacher tells him, politely say Yes Sir to all requests, follow directions, make good eye contact, and realize that hard work can be fun. He also suddenly can tell the difference between his right and left (I still have to think myself sometimes on which is which) and is remembering all kinds of positive tidbits and exercises from his class.

I am really thrilled with the karate studio we chose. Not only are they so close we could walk there (we don’t, but with these gas prices I might consider once it cools down) but the instructor is an extremely charismatic and energetic guy. The kids all want to try and help with all of the tasks at hand- EBoy included (even when he doesn’t know what the task means). They incorporate not just karate skills but in order to progress on belts you also earn stripes for academics as well as parental/home achievement. Any time someone gets a good grade at school you can bring it to the karate class and the instructor will bring the child up for a congratulations from everyone.

Karate is definitely the perfect fit for EBoy right now- he’s excited to go to his classes every week. He’s also quite remarkable at doing pushups (we’re still not sure how he learned to do them so well- we certainly didn’t teach him) the pic below is from the first day of class. Watch out world- there’s a new karate kid in town!