Tuesday, June 8, 2010

swim time!

we started swimming lessons this week...and by we, i mean the kids and myself.  

i've known how to swim for a long time, but signed leah & i up for the mom & tot class to get her started.  it was the only thing i could come up with in order to sign caleb up & not have to spend the entire class time trying to keep her out of the water.  if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

two days down and the kids have done great!  

caleb was nervous before going in but once he was with his teacher and the other kids he didn't even hesitate.  he's learning how to float on his back and started front strokes.  he doesn't mind the dunking and has made some friends in his class....except for the "baby that keeps crying in my ear!" as he so patiently worded it.  {a 3 yr. old having a hard time in class}

leah is a water baby and is completely content to have me float her around while she plays with water toys and her belly points to the sun.  she can blow bubbles in the water and is okay with the dunking part...until the 4th or 5th time.  then there's an enormous heart-felt shout that erupts throughout the pool to let me know she has had it.

the only hard part so far was today, when our class moved to the deeper end of the pool.  and by deeper, i'm talking the 4' 9" section.  how tall am i?  that's right.  4' 11" {and 1/2" but who's keeping track?  oh that's right, ME.}  

anyway, i tried explaining to the instructor that i was too short for this section of the pool.  he just smiled and said,  "oh i think you'll be okay" until i had to physically hand leah over to him to hold for me, and walk into the pool to show him that only 2 inches of the top of my head was remaining.

even better?  all of the other parents started laughing and then because of my height deficiency all of them had to get out of the pool {not easy, or quick with all of the tots in tow} so that we could move to the shallow end.  i love that i was paranoid about my children causing a scene and instead it was me.  classic.

we have a couple more days to go, and then i'll probably take a week or so off and then sign up for another round.  swim skills are a must here in arizona, and it sure helps to keep us cool in the afternoon heat. hopefully there will be some in-action shots of the classes because ben is going to be able to join us tomorrow.

a friend of mine said he was going to invent "aqua heels" just for short folks like myself and asked if i would like to be a spokesperson??  SIGN ME UP!

2 comments:

Kris said...

I grew up in AZ and swimming lessons is a MUST for sure! I have my kids take swimming lessons every year hear and if we lived in Alaska I'd still have them take classes because I have decided it is an important life skill all my kids must learn and they have no choice.

Oh I think your friend with the idea for Aqua-heels, well he's been inspired before by his wife (granted I'm not as short as you but still short non-the-less).

He read me your wall post and we both had a good chuckle, then his bright idea came and then I laughed even harder.

Love you guys. We miss you!

Mindy and Garry said...

That's an awesome story! I did a mom and tot swim class with Ellie and she enjoyed it except for the listening part, but she was 2! Would love to do one with the twins, but not quite sure how to do that! :) Sounds like you are enjoying your summer!