Pool Time!

Audrey started swimming lessons today.  She took private lessons last year and was swimming fairly well underwater on her own by the end of the summer.  Then we didn't swim all winter, and by the beginning of this summer, she had forgotten everything she learned.  She was back to being afraid to jump in, go underwater, or even attempt to kick or swim.  Over the past week, she has finally gotten braver and started to try more, and the result:  she is starting to swim again!

Today she started her first group swim lesson.  I thought the peer pressure would help her to be more willing to try new things.  Plus group lessons are much cheaper!  The teacher we thought she was going to have was mysteriously not there, and the sub teacher wasn't impressive.  Audrey got done and the first thing she said was, "she didn't teach me anything!"

I signed Audrey up for the Beginner 1 class, since she was so afraid of everything at the time.  But since I signed her up, she has gotten braver and started to remember how to swim again.  Probably she needs to be in a more advanced class, as I think she was a little bored and too advanced for the group she was with today.  I figure it's good for her to be in the beginner group, so she can gain some self confidence and experience the joy of being promoted next week.

After swim lessons, we hung out at the pool until it opened.  Once it opened, no one was there!  We had the whole baby pool and the whole medium pool all to ourselves!  Such fun!!  We didn't stay long because I had a lunch meeting.  But for about 45 minutes, the girls got to swim all by themselves.  Isla is finally warming up to her puddle jumper, which allows her to be much more independent in the water.  She is now willing to play in the baby pool (18 inches deep!) without us holding her hand!  In the 3 foot pool, where she can't touch, she still wants someone to hold her hand and stay close by even though she can pretty much stay afloat and swim around by herself in the puddle jumper if she is just brave enough.

Here is happy girl in her very own pool.

While Isla was having fun in the baby pool, Audrey really wanted to go to the medium pool.  I usually make her stay with us because I am not quite comfortable with her being alone in a different pool than us.  Even though there is a lifeguard on duty and she can touch through the whole pool, there are just so many drowning horror stories out there.  And I don't fully trust the young lifeguards to pay attention and do their job.  But since it was so empty today and Audrey would be the only one in the pool, I figured it was fairly safe.  Surely the lifeguard could keep a good eye on her since she was the only one in the pool!  Audrey thought it was the greatest thing ever.

And for a few moments, I got out of the pool, letting Isla swim by herself in the baby pool and Audrey swim by herself in the medium pool, while still keeping an eye on both of them.  I got a little taste of what it is like to be a mom of independent swimmers.  The moms who just get to lounge around the pool deck, sunbathing and reading a book and relaxing, while their kids swim safely on their own with friends.  What a lovely day that will be!!

For now though, we are having fun swimming together...most days at least!

And yes, I did just write a really long blog post about our 45 minutes of swimming today.  Thrilling, I know.