Swim Lessons at the Y

Neither kid was particularly a huge fan of the water in their baby years, but we found they liked the splash pads and zero-entry pools, since they could wade in and out on their own and never had to go in deep water.  They had found their comfort zone.  Maybe they were too comfortable though.  Oliver would often declare he knew how to swim even when he was wearing his life jacket and his feet were still touching the bottom of the pool!  We knew it was time to get serious about teaching them to swim.  So we signed them up for swim lessons on Saturday mornings at the Y, with Soren in a parent-child class and Oliver in a "water adjustment" class, aka, the class for kids who've never had swim lessons before and/or are apprehensive about the water. 

Because Soren is more of a rule-follower type of kid, I thought he was going to be fine, but turns out he's rarely interested in participating in any of the skills-building activities.  However, whenever I look over at him, he's got a smile on his face and totally looks like he's having a blast in the pool with Daddy, so that there is worth it. 

As for Oliver, we were happy he was finally old enough to be in a class without a parent, because we thought he'd listen better if Chris and I weren't in the pool with him.  However, his teacher gave Oliver a lot of leeway in whether he wanted to participate or not and you can guess what he chose to do.  So I spent the first two classes standing on the pool deck periodically reminding Oliver to follow his teacher's instructions.  At the very beginning, I sometimes had to physically put him where he was supposed to be.  For instance, his teacher asked the class to move to the other side of the rope and sit on the edge of the pool and Oliver defiantly refused to comply, so I picked him up out of the water and sat him down next to his classmates.  Even when Oliver is excited about something, he often needs a little nudge to actually do it and this was an example of that.  However a lot of coaxing, he participated in almost all the exercises and generally had fun.  Even when he was apprehensive, he at least tried a variation.  When he was afraid to put his whole head under, he went as far submerging himself up to his mouth and although jumping in the pool was too much for him, he'd sit down on the pool deck, hold his teacher's hands and hop in the water.  Now that he's used to the idea of swim lessons, I no longer need to be there and he comes home all excited to tell me what he did in class. 

The kids won't be bona fide swimmers before summer arrives, that's clear, but I'm thankful they are enjoying the water and have an outlet to be physically active during the long winter months.