Joining the chorus of before age 3 the lessons are entirely about getting used to the water. And (at least at my parks and rec place) the parent has to be in the water with the kid until age 3. So with two kids that may be tough, unless you get another adult to come with you! Or just do one kid at a time.
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This has been our approach as well. We do pay for the swimming lessons but in short bursts and not all summer. At 4.5 Pipsqueak is swimming but not independently as she can’t make it from one side of the pool to the other by herself and isn’t quite tall enough to reach the bottom in the shallow end. We’ll be in the pool at least 2 days a week for the rest of the summer so I think she will be pretty independent by the end of this swimming season. We will probably do one last burst of lessons in another week or two to try and get her flipping her head over to breath.
We have a community pool that’s only 20 feet outside our front door so water safety has been hugely important to me. Mostly for us that meant no floatation devices ever so she didn’t have a false sense of security and being huge sticklers about pool safety (she has to ask a grownup if they are ready before she gets in, no running around at the pool, etc ). We also do the “your baby” verbal parenting queues so we aren’t assuming anyone is watching her and the parent on duty is fully focused on the kids. I think the water safety culture is more important than the lessons until they are 3+ and able to follow directions from an instructor better.
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I know this family’s life is very intentionally and drastically different than mine, but this photo captures the feelings of the joy and confidence in water I’d love to cultivate: Somira Sao on Instagram: "Love & Fury"
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Beautiful photos!!
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What’s a fun gift for a 5 year old girl’s birthday? Parents are pretty lowkey, so we can go wild.
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What sort of interests? More physically oriented, or more sit and craft or books? Size and budget constraints? All noodle on this while I wait for your answer.
Oh, answer number one, the Yoto mini. And it’s on sale today. And it is the best thing of all time ever.
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I feel like five is a super fun age to buy for, because they’re both physically and fine motor skills way more competent. So things like bikes, balance boards, climbing toys, Balance beams, stepping stones, those are all super fun. Plus things like craft kits, Nat Geo science kits, sticker books, all of those Are more accessible to them now as well.
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Thanks for the ideas! It’s a friend’s kid, so I won’t spend more than $40ish. She seems sweet and low key, but I don’t hang out with a ton of kids that age, so it’s hard to say. I know the obvious answer is ask my friend for ideas, but she has a lot going on so I didn’t want to bug her if I didn’t have to.
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I feel like 5 is a good age for a basic Lego set. I like these Lego boxes that come with instructions for a bunch of simple things. The instructions are really good and my 5 year old can do about 80% of it independently (and he is on the less-independent side of his age group).
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My kid (3 months shy of 5yo) has been really into this activity magazine subscription: Monthly Activity Magazine for Kids, Age 4-8(ish) – Spark and “how to draw” books. We got the Crayola marker carousel which is a big hit (and he tends to puts the markers back!).
Loves Legos too.
You could ask your friend for the kid’s current interests? Less work than asking her to come up with gift ideas, but gives you a bit of intel.
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My almost 5 year old is also into Legos and it’s an easy thing to add onto the collection with more from multiple people. She is also into necklace bead kits and science kits and the like.
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Thanks! Without getting into specifics, my preference is to not reach out given some context I have that you all don’t.
Which one is this? We need something like this because the toddler loves markers but doesn’t reliably cap them.
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Here’s the marker carousel. It doesn’t magically make my toddler put the cap on (preschool will do it reliably), but it lessens the impact because if red dries out, there are 2-3 other similar shades. Crayola 50ct Pip Squeaks Marker Set: Washable Bold Point Art Markers, Multicolored, Ages 5+ : Target
These click (no cap) markers are also handy. You still have to click, but at least there’s no cap to lose. I take these when we’re travelling. https://www.crayola.com/products/markers/clicks-retractable-markers-10-count-588370
For some reason, markers are WAY more interesting than crayons to them right now. What’s up with that?
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Love the Lego and magazine ideas! My favourite gift in this age range is to buy amazing snacks and gift wrap them individually. So even if you buy something else, wrap a bag of chips as well and you are a hero! Top contenders:
Plain chips
Granola bars
Cheesies
Those little lunch box bags of cookies
Goldfish
Cheese strongs or the minigo yogurts if refrigeration is a non issue.
I try to save candy for if I am 100% sure the parents are okay with it. And if you know them really well you can wrap stuff like a watermelon.
ETA it does not bother the kids that these may be regular grocery items because they are wrapped and a gift and therefore better
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Omg I did not know that these retractable markers existed. (Our local target is a city target with limited inventory) I will need to pick some up asap because this combines the 2 year old’s favorite things - markers and clicking things. She loves to click my pens but I don’t like giving them to her because they are not washable.
I don’t know why crayons hold no appeal for her 
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Wowowow if her parents love one thing, it’s doing bits. Amazing that you could tell that from my very short description. This is a great idea
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Stealing this idea to use for upcoming travels!!
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Not a question, but just thought I’d share this bit of parenting joy:
Having a text conversation with my teen and she just said this to me:
thanks for the advice but i will not be following it 🩷
Hahaha 
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At least she’s honest
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