Our town offers FREE swimming lessons to children. The sessions are arranged by age group (beginning at age 3). Each session meets FIVE days per/week for THREE weeks straight! I was hesitant to commit to something like this for safety reasons with 3 children so young, but for the price, it was a hard offer to refuse since swimming lessons that meet everyday for three weeks would easily cost a few hundred dollars here. I also had a few friends out here with children the same ages and we agreed to help each other out - (i.e. one parent watches the three/four year-olds while the others supervise the younger children in the adjoining playground).
I was still hesitant since getting three children ages 3 and under pottyed, diapered, fed, clothed, hydrated and sunscreened (plus getting myself ready) is no small task! Leo's swim group meets at 10:30, and the class is only 10 minutes away. I was able to have everyone ready AND the house cleaned by 9:00 a.m. so I even had time to stop to pick up an iced coffee for myself along the way!
I sat Joni and Jules in the double stroller, and turned them AWAY from the pool so Jules couldn't see Leo swimming (I feared that if he saw Leo swimming, he'd scream because HE would want to go into the pool...both of my boys love to swim)...
The two youngest children allowed me to watch Leo swim for almost 30 minutes, which I think is nothing short of remarkable! When the natives became restless, I took them over to the adjoining playground with my friend Adrianne's eldest daughter who graciously helped push Jules on a swing while I nursed Joni.
It was without a doubt a juggling act, but it was well-worth it. Local friends, I highly recommend this program!
Leo about to go into the pool...
Dipping his feet in before diving in...(Leo, James, and the little girl on the right were the last to "take the plunge"...there were 7 children in their swim group)
As you can see, all of the children finally mustered up the courage to jump in...
The instructor is wonderful and really made Leo feel secure, teaching him some basic strokes...
Doing "the elephant"...
Leo with his friend James...James and Leo are best friends, and James' mother and I said afterwards that we don't think the boys would have done as well if they hadn't had each other there. Leo just followed everything James did! We're committed to this every day for the next three weeks, so there will definitely be more pictures to share!
*Photo credits go to my friend Adrianne. I literally had my hands too full to take pics!
1 comment:
So glad you had such a successful day!
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