Swim Lessons

On Thursday, February 3, Joshua started swim lessons. Manheim Township offers them at the high school pool, so we registered him for the first level. He was TERRIFIED! At first he sounded excited, and we even bought him these cool shark swim trunks and a water shirt (trying to keep him warm since I hear the water is really cold). The shark shorts were a little too big (he had officially outgrown the 12-18 month ones he'd been wearing, and I thought we'd be safe with 3T but found out that night that a 2T would have been much better for his thin waist). Here he is, posing in his swim outfit in the girls' locker room.

We got there early so we could figure out where we were going. We went into the pool area, and it was HOT! We ran into Joshua's cousin Jordon's cousin Mary Esmay there (small world!). She was taking the Level 4 lessons that were going on at the same time as Joshua's Level 1. Right before they were about to start, Joshua announces loudly that he MUST go to the bathroom (and what he must do). With a red face, I asked how to get back to the potties, and they showed me the door to exit. So, when we were finished, he was running a little late for the start of class. But, they simply were sitting in a circle outside the pool introducing themselves by name. You must be four to enter this level, and I'm guessing a vast majority of this class was that age (that said, you have to pass this level before moving on).

There were two instructors and a lifeguard (I'm guessing high school age), and 10 little swimmers. They started by sitting on the edge with their feet in the water. Then they asked the kids to turn around and climb into the pool on their bellies, holding onto the wall. From that point, the instructors brought over a fake pipe wall for the kids to hold onto so that they could be facing out. The only problem, though, was that the wall looked big enough for maybe 7 kids rather than the 10 so they were all crammed together. This makes the Bean nervous when they were asked to kick and splash.

He was scared and started to cry. I wasn't sure if he was cold or if it was overwhelming with all the kids or if he was just nervous of the water since we haven't been swimming for a few months (after all, it's cold!). And, all of us parents were sitting on the bleachers watching rather than right with them. The one instructor picked him up and asked him what was wrong. He smiled wide at this pretty girl - no more tears the rest of the night!

The next thing they did was "Simon Says" in the water. They would say "Simon Says put one ear in the water," "Simon Says put the other ear in the water," etc. Joshua did NOT want his face to get wet. They asked the kids to go under water, and he told the girl that he couldn't. While I wished he would participate a little more, I think this time was more about getting him used to the idea of swim lessons. I had to all but drag him there that night, and he was finally happy to be in the pool and with the older girls who were instructing.

After their game, the girls both got fun noodles and gave each child a turn to go out with them and try to kick their feet and swim with them. Joshua LOVED the one-on-one time. They also asked them to blow bubbles in the pool, and they gave them rings to blow bubbles in and keep hold of. They also were asked to kick and splash, holding on. I sat with a group of parents, and the one mom told me how familiar I looked. I agreed that I thought she looked like I knew her, but we never could place from where. They had two kids in the class, one was four and one was six. The four year old boy was splashing like crazy and kept letting go and going under the water. He wasn't in danger, but his mom said that he thinks he knows how to swim and doesn't. They seemed embarrassed that he was causing a scene, and I was glad that Joshua was doing okay. Even though he wasn't necessarily doing everything they asked, he wasn't disobeying either.

Unfortunately, a child from the level 4 class vomited in the pool, so they evacuated it. Thus, class ended early our first night as they were trying to clean it up (and I'm pretty sure there was another class coming in after ours - YUCK!). The kids came shivering over to get their towels, and I took Joshua to the girls' locker room. I wasn't sure what to do, but he's so little yet that I figured I was okay. We quickly got him dressed and into his coat and we headed home, where he told Daddy that he was a BIG SWIMMER! and that he was very brave in the pool. It was a good first experience overall.