Swim Lessons

Caroline started swim lessons this week! Class began on Tuesday. I bet you're wondering why I don't have pictures. Let me fill you in... I don't have pictures because someone wasn't a fan of swim class. Someone 3 feet tall. Someone very cute. Someone very... apprehensive. The toddlers are supposed to take the class without the moms being in the water with them. We're supposed to lounge poolside and enjoy a little time to ourselves. That obviously didn't pan out for me... at least not on Tuesday!

Although very unhappy with class, Caroline remained polite. You've never heard a more rapid succession of high pitched "No thank you! I don't want to. No thank you! I go now." Once I joined her in the pool, she participated minimally but didn't seem very excited about things. Our saving grace was that her bff, Tommy, is also in the class and he is very brave. After watching Tommy master the skills being taught, Caroline did get a little more brave. Just a little though.

At the end of class, the teacher approached me and I thought "Oh great, we're getting kicked out of class." Instead, she said that she saw improvement with Caroline over the span of the class and was pretty sure that she would become more and more comfortable with time.

I spent the next couple of days building up today's swim lesson to Caroline. I talked about how brave she is, how much fun she was going to have, that she'd be with Tommy and that she could wear whichever swimsuit from the store she wanted. She picked out a bright floral print suit complete with a grass hula style skirt. And some hot pink sunglasses of course. We were armed and ready for class today.

At first she was a bit hesitant, but once class started, she sat with Tommy on the pool stairs and began to participate. She wasn't fully convinced that she wanted to be there, but it was much better than Tuesday. She still would volunteer a quick "No thank you!" at times but the instructor gently pushed her to try and she did. She made it through the entire class and get this -- mommy got to sit poolside and lounge! The only thing missing was a pina coloda, my camera and maybe my pre-pregnancy thighs. Sigh.

Here's hoping that next Tuesday's class brings even more improvement in Caroline's desire to swim! Maybe I'll actually remember to bring my camera too... we'll see!