I have been swimming almost all my life. I started taking lessons when I was just a tot and quickly took to it. I was soon swimming the length of the pool and holding my breath underwater. My mom had to talk the swimming supervisors into passing me into the advanced class before I was in kindergarten. I really want to give my kids the same experience. I'm just not sure they have the same idea.
We put Q in swim lessons as soon as he was eligible at six months of age. That mostly involved me floating him around and him looking around confusedly. After several sessions, Q was moving rapidly through the levels and comfortably splashing in the pool.
Then we made the mistake of not enrolling him for a year and a half. Pregnancy, a new baby, and moving got in the way. Tonight we took both boys for lessons. It didn't go very well.
R was extremely comfortable and was a natural in the water. Q stood on the deck and screamed in terror every time we tried to coax him in. R laughed in delight, kicked his feet, and even slid down the slide. Q clung to my neck if I tried to so much as dip his toe in the water. T and I didn't know if we should force him in the water to convince him it was OK, or just let him sit it out and venture in at his own pace.
I signed us up for evening classes, so we could go together as a family, and so I wouldn't have to wrangle two wild, naked boys in the locker room. I packed two bags and T and I split up after the lessons to wash the boys and get them in their pajamas. T tells me Q enjoyed the soap pump and the wall-mounted blow dryers. R was extremely slippery and made several escape attempts.
Now, one week of swim lessons is in the books. I hope subsequent weeks are more successful. A word of advice: start your kids early in swim lessons and don't take any long breaks!
--MM
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