Evie Nazor-Comer and her aunt, Karah Nazor, at the McCallie swimming pool.One of my favorite activities these days is taking my 5-year-old granddaughter, Evie, to swim practice each week at the McCallie School pool. It makes me happy for a number of reasons.
First, Evie loves it. We’re a big swimming family and to see the new generation of Nazors also showing an interest in the sport excites me. But to see Evie’s enthusiasm is even more thrilling. Until last summer, she showed no interest in competitive swimming. Then in July, she took off like a fish in our backyard pool and has been in the water since (well, whenever possible).
Secondly, my daughter, Karah, teaches biology and is an assistant swimming coach at McCallie. So when Evie and I arrive every week, Karah is coaching. Afterwards, she visits with us – typically Evie jumps on her like a monkey on a tree – and we get in a little family bonding before Evie hits the water.
Though all my children are swimmers, Karah is the one who loves it the most. She went to college on a swimming scholarship and got into open-water swimming when she was doing her post-doctorate at the University of California San Francisco.
When she moved to Chattanooga, she brought her love of open water with her and started the Chattanooga Open Water Swimming (C.O.W.S.) group, which now hosts one of the most popular open water swimming events in America, Swim the Suck, a 10-mile swim in the Tennessee River. Karah also started the 1-mile Snail Darter Sprint, a RiverRocks event.
Last October, Tilleigh, my 9-year-old granddaughter (who at the moment loves acting more than swimming) was one of three youngsters who successfully swam the half-mile kids Snail Darter Sprint event. It was her idea to swim it, and next year she hopes to tackle the 1-mile race.
The third reason I love transporting my granddaughter to and from swimming practice is that I get to spend time with a little chatterbox who talks about anything and everything that comes to her mind.
She talks a lot about school, and it pleases me how positive she is about it. She has a really good attitude about learning (she’s into numbers, which prompted me to buy her an abacus), and she likes her teacher’s method of rewarding good behavior. According to Evie, when a child has done something exceptionally thoughtful, they are given a marble to place in a jar. When the jar is filled, the children will be rewarded with a popcorn party or something like it.
Evie likes the marble rewards so much, she asked me to do it at my house. And, because I think it’s an excellent idea, I agreed.
So on the way home from swimming one night, we stopped at a store and purchased marbles. When we got home, we put the marbles in one jar and placed an empty jar beside it. When one of my three grandchildren (including 3-year-old William) does something exceptionally thoughtful, they get to put a marble in the jar.
The kids have been with me a couple nights since we started the jar, and we have about 10 marbles in the jar so far. I’ve established some of my own rules: If a kid misbehaves, no marbles are removed from the jar; you do not get to ask for a marble, and a sibling or adult can suggest that someone get a marble.
I think it’s perfectly fine to reward good behavior with something as simple as a marble. And when the marble jar is full, we will do something similar to Evie’s classroom – have a popcorn party, go to a playground, rent a movie, etc.
The marble jar is a result of a car trip to and from swimming. It was a conversation Evie initiated, planned and put it into action with my support. And to think she’s only 5.
What a joy this child is. Aging is taking a back seat to the joy and love these kids bring into my life every single day. And I am committed to not losing one marble in the process.
Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.