Nerd Factor

No surprise.... T's nerd factor is wayyyy higher than mine. I'd even rank Kt as higher than me on the nerd factor in this household. I would come in third and Em would not even rank - seriously. She has no interest in anything involving learning. Case in point....

We went to swim lessons today and her ADHD (undiagnosed, but quite apparent!) kicked in right away. The girl's teacher hopped in the water. Em caught every other word as she bobbed in and out of the water. Trish had to ask her several times, "Em, did you hear me?" She would look right back at her and say, "What?" At one point, she said to her, "Um, can I just go over there and play?" as she lay on her belly on top of a kickboard with her arms and legs up in the air, somehow balancing her body, asking to be excused from her lessons after less than 5 minutes of instruction. Somehow, one year of full day kindergarten did absolutely nothing to improve her extremely limited attention span. It's just, well, embarrassing.

After a few more minutes, I called her over to me and told Trish to work with Kt for a bit and I'd "take care" of Em. That means we have a little speaking to while appearing to be working on our frog kick. Here's what I said: Em, we're here so that Trish can TEACH you things about swimming We are not here to "play" with her. (Em is nodding her head, bobbing up and down, and saying "I know!") When she is trying to talk to you, it's your job to listen and practice the things you need to learn. What did she teach you that we need to work on?

Em: Well, I can't do that chicken, airplane, torpedo thing. It's hard.

Me: Let's practice it. (Try it once, frowny face to me.)

Em: See. I can't do it!

Me: Do you want to try it again?

Em: No.

Me: Em, that's what we're here for. Do you want to take lessons?

Em: YES! But can I just swim?

She then exited to the bathroom, returned to "practice" some more - kickboard surfing, that is - and then I sent her off to learn how to tread water and dive. When she arrived at the other end after asking me if she could join Trish and Kt, Trish said, "We're learning how to tread water. Do you want to try?"

Em - as matter of factly as you could imagine: No.

She did it, but I did tell Trish not to even ask her anymore. Just tell her what you're doing because 9 times out of 10, Em will choose not to learn. No interest. There is not even a baby nerd in there, so I might as well stop looking for one!!