Swimming Lessons

We are taking a break from most school work this past week and this week, and all 3 kids are taking swimming lessons at the local city pool. It is going better than I expected! My daughters are both scared of water, or at least, they have been. My oldest daughter was supposed to take swimming lessons last year, but after the first 10 minutes or so, she refused to get in the water any more.

This year, she has stayed in the pool.

The instructors are so patient, and have been guiding her very gently into doing more. Today, she actually got off the steps (don't laugh - this is a big deal for her!) and let the instructor glide her around the pool. She also practiced what they call the monkey crawl, where they hang on to the edge of the pool and inch along one hand at a time to make their way to the nearest ladder to get out. And, she even dunked herself completely under water! And came up smiling! We have 3 more days left of lessons, and I am very happy with her progress.

I thought my younger daughter would do great in her lessons, with her adventurous, more outgoing nature, but last week was not the best. She cried and even screamed whenever they tried to carry her into the deeper water off the steps, and refused to do the monkey crawl. By Friday, she said she never wanted to go swimming again. However, she calmed down over the weekend, and today, she did not cry one single bit! And she let them float her around, and did the monkey crawl several times! I'm not sure what brought about this change, but she now says she can't wait for her next lesson.

My son, the youngest, has taken to the water like a fish. He absolutely loves it. The first day, he was scared, and it took a while for me to coax him into the pool, but after that, he has never looked back. He kicks away, holding onto a float board, does the monkey crawl all by himself back and forth, and is even starting to swim a few strokes all by himself.

The younger two are taking the preschool class together, while my oldest is in the level 1 class. I am very impressed with the instructors and the whole set-up, and it is even much cheaper than many of the other swim classes around (plus it's close to our house). The level 1 class is limited to 8 kids, and at the original time we signed up for, there were 8 kids in the class. The coordinator noticed how nervous Rebekah was, and how shy she seemed, and suggested that we change to the class 1 hour later, as there were only 3 in that class. So we did, and it has been perfect. The preschool class at this hour only has 3 kids, including my 2, so it is really nice too.

Now, if only the weather would cool down a bit - 101 is too hot for me, and they won't let me jump in the pool!