Julia, along with three other teammates, swam their team to a 12th place finish in the medley relay; in that relay, Julia swam a personal best time in breast stroke, helping the relay to break their previous best time. Julia also swam her second best time in the 200 IM and in the 50 breast stroke, plus swam a decent time in the 50 butterfly. As if that weren't enough swimming, she joined her relay medley teammates in the final freestyle relay, swimming a strong second leg.
Madeleine swam today, and since this was her first Districts ever, she was happily oblivious to any feelings of pressure or competition:
I think her happy-go-lucky attitude served her well, because she swam her butt off in the butterfly leg of the medley relay, then went and qualified for New Englands in the 100 IM. She also swam a solid 25 breast stroke, a great third leg of the freestyle relay, and most exciting of all, she placed 3rd overall in the 50 free! Here she is sporting her medal:
So, of course, two tired kids who swam a LOT this weekend naturally equals a big fight over something TOTALLY RIDICULOUS at home, right? I was in the middle of writing an essay for a Professional Development course for work when I heard shouting erupt from Julia's room. The back-and-forth escalated until Julia screamed at Madeleine to get out of her room, so I was forced to go investigate. I found the two of them surrounded by American Girl dolls.
ME: What is going on in here?
JULIA: I DON'T WANT MADELEINE IN HERE ANYMORE! SHE'S MAKING HER DOLLS SAY REALLY MEAN THINGS!
MADELEINE: THAT'S BECAUSE JULIA IS SAYING THAT MY DOLLS ARE ACTING MEAN AND BRATTY!
JULIA: No, *I* didn't say that! MY DOLLS SAID IT!
MADELEINE: WELL, THAT'S HURTING MY FEELINGS!
JULIA: WELL, IT'S HURTING MY FEELINGS THAT YOUR DOLLS ARE BEING MEAN!
MADELEINE: WELL, JULIA IS MAKING HER DOLLS BE REALLY MEAN TO MY DOLLS!
JULIA: WELL, YOUR DOLLS ARE SAYING THEY'RE BETTER SWIMMERS THAN LINDSAY!
MADELEINE: NO THEY'RE NOT! I SAID THAT *I'M* A BETTER SWIMMER THAN LINDSAY!
JULIA: BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR! LINDSAY WAS TALKING ABOUT SWIMMING ON HER U.S. SWIM TEAM AND GETTING MEDALS AND MADELEINE SAID SHE WAS BETTER!
ME: Wait a minute. You're fighting because Madeleine said she's a better swimmer than your doll?
BOTH GIRLS: (giggling with chagrin)
ME: This is really ridiculous.
MADELEINE: Yeah, but Julia said that my dolls are being bratty!
JULIA: No I didn't! My DOLLS said that!
ME: So you're fighting because your dolls are saying mean things to each other?
BOTH GIRLS: (giggling with chagrin yet again)
ME: Okay, can we just not fight about this? It's ridiculous.
JULIA: BUT-
MADELEINE: BUT-
ME: Why don't I throw Lindsay in the pool today and we'll see how well she swims?
JULIA: (giggling)
MADELEINE: (gasping) No! Don't do that! She'll get wrecked!
Hopefully they realized, at that point, what a stupid argument this was. I can't wait for bedtime.
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