Two Little Fishies

Summer 2014

This summer marked Jack's third year to take swim lessons from Emler Swim School.  We also signed Livi up for her first lessons this year.  Jack's lessons had gone really well in past years, so I was excited to have them both taking lessons from the same place.  This year's lessons were OK, but not as great as I'd expected for a few reasons.  First, unlike when Jack was 2 years old, they now required a parent to be in the water with each kid in Livi's class.  I really enjoyed being in the water with her, but Jack's 30 minute lesson started 15 minutes before Livi's.  Tommy and I tried to both be there, but if only one of us could make it, it was very difficult to stop halfway through Livi's lesson to talk to Jack's teacher and be sure that he was sitting by the pool watching calmly for the rest of Livi's lesson.  Second, Jack's original teacher taught just a couple of lessons, then was replaced by several weeks of substitutes and a brand new, young and inexperienced teacher to close out the session.  Combine the inconsistency with the fact that he had forgotten most of what he knew from last year and I felt a little like he'd taken a small step backwards this year.  Next year, I think I'll try to get them in lessons at the beginning of the summer where they go every day, but just for a couple of weeks - I think it will stick in their memories more if they do it consistently for a few weeks rather than one lesson a week over the whole summer.  We'll see...

All of that is not to say that we didn't have fun and learn a little.  Jack's class worked a lot on getting the freestyle hand motion down and eventually adding some breathing.  They also perfected the "jump, turn, swim" to get back to the side after jumping in.  He loved to slide down the big slide at the end of every lesson.

One week was water safety week in Jack's class.  They all donned life jackets and learned what to do if their raft flipped over or they were stuck in the water.

Tommy and I took turns swimming with Livi.  The hardest part of her lesson was usually getting her out of the water when class was over. She was still a little tentative to jump in the water by herself, but would do so easily when you held her hands.  She could "swim" under water for the count of 7-8, the best of anyone in her class!  At her age, the main point of the class is to get them comfortable in the water - I'd say that was a success! 

"Motor boat, motor boat, step on the gas!"

"London Bridge is falling down"

 

Daddy's little girl!

My 2 little fishies:

I tried to get them to show off their ribbons after the last class, with little success.  I'm not sure where Livi's ribbon is, maybe in the giant bag she's carrying.  Oh well!