Swimming Lessons

Every summer since we have lived out of the state of Utah, we have been busy either vacationing, travelling to visit family, or going on medical rotations out of state. Thus, my children have never gotten the opportunity to take swimming lessons. Being in year-round school and "forced" to stay home and go to school during the summer has finally given us this opportunity.

Jacob was able to take 2 sessions in a row so he got a month of swimming lessons and it was so great for him. He has loved the water...as long as he can touch the bottom or wear a life jacket. Joe and I have tried working with him in our own pool but he gets scared, won't trust us, and it usually ends up in fits of crying and yelling. The first couple of weeks, Jake was a little timid and didn't want Miss Janette to let go of him. After teaching him to hum under water, float like Superman, use "cookie arms", "draw hearts", and make a "chicken, scarecrow, person" (elementary back stroke), she made him swim across the length of the pool as she was walking in front of him. He would swim as fast as he could so he could reach out and grab her at any time. Several times I heard her say as she would pull him into the water, "No negotiations today, Jake. I'll be right here to grab you if you need help but I want you to swim without holding on." (It's nice to see that I'm not the only one he tries to manipulate.)

After 2 weeks of timid swimming, Jake finally gained some courage and took off one day. He was a new man. It was so funny to see him just swim anywhere, anytime. I couldn't believe it. It had come completely out of the blue. He actually got in trouble several times because he was supposed to sit near the wall but kept heading for the deep end while the other kids were swimming. I was proud of his new courage but had to maintain the discipline of following Miss Janette's instructions. He now swims like a fish and loves it. He tells me, "Mom, I only need to wear my life jacket when we go to the lake because it is REALLY deep there and you never know when the boat can tip." Way to go, Jake!

This picture says it all

Carlee took a 2-week session as well. She watched Jake in the first 2 weeks and was dying to get in so I signed her up. She loved dunking her head in the water and would open her mouth as big as she could to take her breath before diving in. She also learned to hum underwater, "take a nap" on her back, "fly like Tinkerbell" on her belly, use "cookie arms", and "draw hearts" while kicking. Carlee was really good at making a "chicken, scarecrow, person" and would scrunch up her face as she was concentrating on her arms. It was too cute. Two of her favorite things to do was dive for rings on the step and jump to Miss Janette. Although she still gets nervous if she can't hold on to us, she loves playing in the water and practicing her hums. She is already talking about "swimming at Miss Janette's next year when she is 3".

My little Tinkerbell

Taking her nap

Miss Janette was nice enough to open a session after school for Clark and Kate if I could recruit some other kids to join. So I talked to a couple of friends and off we went. Clark is the only one that actually has no fear of the water and can swim pretty well but hasn't been taught the proper technique so this was really good for him. He loved learning the strokes and participating in the relay races with his friend, Mitchell.

Katelyn has been nervous in the water as well. Of course she is fine also as long as she can touch the bottom. She has learned some of the strokes but will doggie-paddle in between and start to panic. By the end of the 2 weeks she had gained a lot of confidence and can now keep up with Clark.

They learned front crawl, back stroke, elementary back stroke, breast stroke, side stroke, the butterfly, flip-turns, and diving. They were able to do a couple of relay races and have done a great job learning these strokes. I love watching them practice in our pool and see how their confidence has grown. Great job, kids! You'll be even better next summer.