Swim Lessons

The girls are taking swim lessons. When we went to Boise in September, we realized that Phaedra was dying to learn (or teach herself) to swim. We had plenty of chances to swim in the hotel pool, and Phaedra was more adventurous every time. She kept wanting us to back away more so she could swim to us.

Phaedra has never had swim lessons. I’ve always wanted to, but it just hasn’t happened. But she has always been comfortable in the water. The girl is a fish! I put her in a level 2 preschool class so we could skip all the activities trying to get her comfortable in the water—that’s not a problem with this child! We got lucky, and on the first day, Phae was the only one in the class. She had her own little private lesson. Since then, one other little girl has joined the class. What Phaedra lacks in skill, she makes up for in pure enthusiasm. The main reason she gets water in her mouth is because every time she goes under the water, she gets a huge, drop-jaw grin on her face. We can’t convince her to shut her mouth under water; she’s just too happy!

It’s so funny to watch Phaedra wait on the side of the pool while her teacher instructs the other little girl. Phae sits there with her bum in the air so she can dip her face in the pool. Sometimes she dips half her head in so she looks like she’ll tip right in at any moment. Today, I had to tell her not to bounce so much next to the edge of the pool because she was doing little squat-leaps waiting for her turn. She is loving every minute of it!

Eleanor is a slightly different story. She has had swimming lessons, but it has been quite a while. I did several rounds of the parent-tot swim lessons with her at the YMCA when she was a baby, and she took one solo (with teacher) class at the Y when she was 3. Eleanor is pretty comfortable in the water, but not very comfortable swimming, if that makes any sense. I also put her in a level 2 class in her age group because I was afraid the first level class might only be focused on water acclamation. She might be the most timid child in her class, which has around 8 kids in it. When the instructor tells her to swim to her, Eleanor pushes off toward her and immediately puts her feet down. I almost think we need to drop her in the deep end!

She’s getting there, though. She starts out the class doing tiny bobs that barely put her face in the water, and by the end of the session, she’ll put her entire head under the water. She just seems to need to warm up to the idea each time we go. She’s also so excited that her attention is all over the place. She wants to tell us about what she just did rather than listen to the instructor. At times, I have wondered if I put her in a class that’s too advanced, but she’s having a good experience. If the class is too advanced, I don’t think she has noticed. And I can see her learning from it, even if she isn’t on the same level as all the other kids.

Poor Curtis has to wait with us on the sidelines. He would love to get into the water too, but he just has to be left out this time around.

I haven’t taken the camera with me. Maybe I’ll try to sometime, but lately I’m doing good if I can get us out the door. I’ll try to post some pictures the next time I blog.