pyjammy’s blog

The final swimming post

At least for this year…

I just wanted to give a quick wrap up of the boys’ swimming lessons, mostly because I brought my DSLR yesterday and got some good pictures. Heh.

You already saw Miles jumping in. Let’s just say, that’s his strength. Oliver and Linus were a little more timid about jumping. See Oliver:

or here. Doesn’t that make your toenails hurt?

and your knees?

Ouch.

But they definitely each had their strengths. Miles’s was jumping, Linus’s was kicking:

(okay, maybe this isn’t the best representation, but it’s true, I promise.)

and Oliver’s was scaring me half to death while holding his breath (that’s him on the right):

But they all excelled at being friggin’ cute in the pool.

And as a fun bonus, here’s a video of all three diving for Ms Judy’s silver bracelet. Don’t ask who that screechy voice is yelling in the video. Uh, I have no idea.

Three little fishies!

I know swimming lessons are only half over, but I want to document them before I forget how it all went.

Day 1, Thursday: I had daycare put their “diving suits” (that’s what they call them) on because I knew it’d be a struggle to get Linus or Miles in them. I was happy to see they were all wearing their suits when I picked them up.

We got to the lesson, and there were three other kids in their group, all girls. Two of them are two years old, and the other is older, maybe five or six. The lessons go like this: Ms Judy (the teacher) is in the pool, and the kids sit on the steps. In theory, anyway. She gets one kid at a time, stands a few feet from the wall, and kind of launches them toward it, halfway underwater. And then, amazingly, they don’t drown. They just kind of flail their way to the wall.

None of the boys were too keen on this, but especially Linus and Miles. George or I had to hand her each kid as he tried to run away, sobbing. Miles clung to me like a barnacle, but we were able to hand him over without my shirt getting ripped off by his desperate grip. Barely. Once in the water, they were even more hysterical, not wanting to let go of Ms Judy. But she is a pro, so soon enough, each one was flailing their way to the wall. She said they were remarkably calm under water, but you’d never know that by the way they were acting once their heads were above it.

So the first lesson went like this. Tears, screaming, flailing underwater.

Later that night, the boys all said they liked their swimming lesson. Ha ha ha, yeah, right!

Day 2, Friday: I was afraid the boys would freak out if they even knew they were going back to swimming lessons, but they were remarkably calm about it. Daycare forgot to get them dressed, but we didn’t have any big problems getting them to put their bathing suits on.

We get to the pool, and there is definite reluctance to get near the pool, but eventually they do. They’re not happy to take their turns, and there are plenty of tears, but they do. Granny and Grandpa came to the lesson, so they had more of an audience to show off to.

Day 3, Monday: They claimed to be excited about lessons (mostly because I had promised them a snack of Froot Loops on the way there) but once we got there, Miles was not happy. Linus (this is my child who has never gotten into a pool for me, even with his Puddle Jumpers on) calmly sat on the steps with Oliver, while Miles asked me in a voice filled with dread, “is it my turn? IS IT MY TURN???” ad nauseum. Miles screamed and cried when Ms Judy took him around the pool, but he swam well (you know, relatively speaking. He wasn’t doing the breaststroke or anything.)

Imagine my stunned surprise when Linus volunteered to go after Miles. He put his hand out for Ms Judy to come get him. He was happy and calm and took his turns like a champ. I was so proud of him! Next, Oliver did just as well! Miles still cried in the water, but he calmed down considerably. And by the end of the lesson, they were all whining for another turn.

Kids!

We are now halfway through with lessons. Three more days. I am guessing by the last lesson, I’ll have little Olympic swimmers on my hands! Heh.