Saturday, July 10, 2010

Swim lessons

We have a family membership to the YMCA. Brent works out regularly. I have not been since October or November of last year. The reason we signed up at the Y is because of their swimming pools. Brent likes to have the option to swim and we want Max to get used to being in the water. Last summer, Brent took Max to the pool quite a bit and Max loved it. This year, they have been a few times. Max's preschool is located next to the Y and since he has turned 3, he can attend swim lessons through the school. We signed up for a total of four weeks. Last week, he finished the first two-week session. He is in a group of four boys from his school. They change into their swim trunks, grab their towels and walk over to the pool just before 11am to see their teacher, John for a 40 minute lesson. Every evening, Brent and I would ask him what he learned from John and Max would show us on the floor how he kicked his legs and reached for toys in the water and moved his arms. When we asked what John said, he answered "no running". Every day, we received the same answer. I think the rule about not running around the pool has stuck with him. Brent and I did not go to watch Max the first week. There was a chance he would lose focus and want to come to us and not attend the lesson. The second week, Brent went to watch. He stayed outside the gate and watched from there, called me and filled me in on what they were doing. On Thursday, I went to watch. I stayed outside, afraid I would interrupt the lesson. The boys stood by the side of the pool and played with toys. One at a time, they did what John suggested; ducked their heads under water all the way until their hair got wet, floated on their back while John held their head, held on to a floating device and kicked their legs. They were so cute. Max did so well. He looks over, sees me and calls out "mommy"! He looks at the other boys and says "That is my mommy over there". I went inside and sat next to the pool to watch the rest of the class. Max looked over and waived. They turned on the water to the "mushroom" fountain. John took Max and Charles and together, the three of them went through the waterfall. I did not think Max would want to do it but he seems to trust this guy John completely. When the lesson was over, they were all wrapped up in their towels, lined up, and walked back to the school. I made sure to catch up with them to steal a kiss and to let my little boy know how well he did and how proud I am of him. He looked happy. He likes the pool. In a couple of weeks, he will yet again attend a two week course. In the mean time, we will take him and practice kicking and proper arm movement.

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