Swim Class

A while back Jasmin and I heard one of our friends were bringing their kid to swim classes.  I thought it was a little silly to bring a child that age to try to learn to swim.  I mean, what could they possibly be learning?  Jasmin convinced me it would be a good idea however and we signed up the next day at Swimtime, a place that specializes in kid swim classes and daycare.

First Day of swim class.

Bright and early we work up to get ready to leave.  In the weeks beforehand Meo and I would stay home Saturday mornings while Jasmin went to her yoga class.  This gave her a good chance to exercise, relax, and spend an hour away from the house, chores, and other such worries.  It also gave Meo and I a chance to hang out together one on one, which isn’t something that happens often.  This Saturday, however, we would be going in with mommy and parting ways to have a swim class at just me and him while mommy balanced on one leg and chanted.

When we arrived I noticed that the waiting room had a big picture window that viewed into the pool where lots of 4 year olds were struggling to stay above the water as a wiry cheerleader looking lady instructed everyone not to run around the edges of the pool.  Meo and I played with a robotic dinosaur while we waited our turn.  

Once changed and after role call we made our way into the pool.  We strapped a little bubble looking thing to Meo’s back and took a floating device that looks like a pugil stick into the pool.  The pool was one depth: waist deep.  I dunked Meo’s legs in to test the water but he wasn’t happy about it.  The farther we walked into the pool, the more nervous he was.  He kept saying “No, no.” over and over and was arching like he wanted to get out.  We walked over to our friends and said hi.  Their kid was floating happily and kicking his legs.  Meo was also kicking his legs, but it was more to get away than to mimic swimming.  I tried several other things to calm him down.  I tried resting his arms over the pugil stick like the wiry lady instructed, to no avail.  I told him to kick, which he attempted but then wanted to be held close.  When it came time to do jumps into the pool we had a go at being jumped and slid in.  He really enjoyed jumping in while I hed his arms, which was encouraging.  But one we tried the seal dive, which is sliding in on the belly, he freaked out and didn’t want to do anything anymore.  Then it was time to play with toys, which he balked at.  Followed by singing songs, which is the one activity he really enjoyed.  That was followed by more whimpering and crying so I actually left the pool for a minute, before grabbing another toy and trying again.  He was weary at this point and kept asking for Mamma, thankfully the class ended. We went to the cold changing room to get out of our swim trunks.  He stood motionless under the hot shower head like a person who has given up.  We left tired and a little dejected, unexcited for the next 6 classes we had signed up for.

Bubble

Meo and his friend Carter

One week later I knew we’d be taking it at his own speed.  So after grabbing our bubble and pugil stick I jokingly bounced him in and out of the water and he laughed.  I couldn’t believe it.  Then we draped his arms over the stick and I showed him how to kick and he did!  He looked around and pointed at all the animals and named them. Then we did jumps and toy time and singing all happy and playfully.  Basically replace any time he was sad or winey in the first class and replace it with laughs and smiles.  It was a huge relief.  We even had some time at the end where he and his fiend played pass with a ball.  It was the best feeling ever knowing he had gotten over his fear of the pool.

Happy little swimmer

Playing ball

Kick kick kick!

In the following weeks I watched as he learned and became more comfortable with himself in the water.  He was able to kick and keep his balance better.  He was able to “scoop” the water in front of him, preparing him for actual swimming.  He did both of these simultaneously eventually.  And he became more comfortable jumping in the water to where the last week of class he was jumping in from a sitting position all by himself (I was close by to catch him of course).

Just keep swimming!

After all my waffling I think that the swim class is very valuable, even at this age.  It’s made Meo a lot more comfortable in the water, which will lead to a willingness to learn more about how to move in the water.  It’s also given him the basic tools so he can combine them in the future to learn to swim.  It also makes him very happy and has given us more time to bond, father to son.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures and some photos of when mommy visted the class too.

Meo's pal Carter and his family