Oil and Water Play Nice

For much of their 16 and 13 years of life, these two have been my oil and water children.  They didn't tend to get along very well.  But all that has changed!  They can't get enough of each other these days and it makes me so happy.  Is there anything more rewarding to a parent than to see their children cherishing one another?  I think not.
This picture was taken the morning they both headed off to piano lessons together.  I taught Elinor piano lessons until she was 12 or 13 and then she moved on to a more advanced teacher.  I've been teaching Faith since she was about 4 years old (when she begged for lessons) and just this past week she has moved to the same teacher as Elinor.

They both swim crazy amounts of hours each week, although they swim for different USA teams.  Elinor's team is in South Jordan and Faith swims for a Herriman USA team.  There is a method to my madness as to why they swim for two different teams, but nobody but me would care about the reasons why, so I will spare you the lengthy explanation.  They both play water polo for a Herriman and they practice during the summer from 5-7 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is probably their favorite four hours of the week.

They both swim/workout in the mornings and evenings-- it ends up being 4 to 5 hours a day for each of them.  WHAT??? 5 hours a day?  How is that even possible?  Is that healthy?  Shouldn't they be more well-rounded?  Won't they get burned out?
All fair questions, but frankly, I am so proud of both of them for working so hard, by their own free choosing.  We are not requiring any of this, but they are loving pushing themselves and feeling the thrill of working hard and seeing results.  They aren't wasting time on social media or TV (save the occasional Psyche binge).  They happily go to bed early and manage their schedules and equipment.  They have great coaches and they enjoy the kids they swim with and the lessons they learn here will follow them throughout their lives.
They love to come home and tell me about their victories and frustrations.  They are setting goals and bonding through their love/hate relationship with chlorine.

This week Elinor started her summer job of being a nanny for my brother's children for five hours a day, 5 days a week.  Faith is rather lost without her around during the day.  She tries to fill the void by napping on water polo days:)