Skip to main content

Swim Lesson Currents

We joined an outdoor community pool this summer, and the boys have been taking swim lessons all week.

I remember teaching swim lessons at an outdoor pool when I was a teenager. There was always that one parent who brought their child to the pool for lessons at the very beginning of the summer, when the water was freezing cold. I’d have to get in, and within minutes the child and I would both have blue lips. I could never understand, as I shivered in the water, why that parent would submit their child (and me!) to icy torture.

This week, I was that parent. No doubt, the water was cold. My usually full-steam-ahead boys stopped short each morning as their little toes made contact with the first drop. But they got in, and they swam. They had a blast with their swim instructor who was sweet and cute and enthusiastic (and made me feel really, really old). Regardless of the cold, Ben and Nicholas had fun. Not once did they say, “I don’t want to go to swim lessons”. In fact, they beat me to the van each morning.

I don’t care if my boys never play competitive sports, but so help me, both will be swimmers. It is too important a skill not to learn how. Water is dangerous. Period. And I want Benjamin and Nicholas to be able to survive if ever they fall in.

Luckily, my boys are water-babies. They spend so much time in the water that they may as well have been born with gills (wonder how that would have looked on an ultrasound?). Benjamin is at the point where, if he fell in, he’d be able to swim and get himself out. He wants to be on the swim team next summer. Nicholas isn’t quite there yet. Give the kid a kick-board, and he is the Flash in the water. Without the kick-board, he swims like he has rocks in his swim-shorts. Pierre and I are both convinced that he can swim, but he’s scared. Letting go of what keeps your head above water is frightening. And that’s okay. Nicholas just needs a little more time.

P6160051

Holding tight to the side of the pool.

Pierre and I were trying to convince Nicholas that he could let go of his teacher, and blast-off on his own.

“I can’t,” Nicholas replied. “The current in the pool will pull me down.”

Current?

“There’s no current in the pool,” Pierre assured him.

“Yes,” said Nicholas. “There’s a rip-current. It’s going to pull me away.”

Hmmm…we may have gone a little overboard warning the boys about rip-currents in the ocean while in Vero Beach.

“Nicholas, there are no rip-currents in the pool. You can do it. You’ll be okay.”

“There are too many waves in the pool!” Nicholas was quite sure of this.

“Nicholas,” I replied. “The only waves there will be are the ones you make when you kick!”

Nicholas was unconvinced, but the next day he did let go of his swim teacher. Now, he let go where he was sure he could touch the bottom, but baby-steps, right?

Or should I say baby flutter-kicks?

xo Naomi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Funny Medicine

So, after blogging about Ben’s ear infection, a good friend messaged me on Facebook with a unique remedy for ear pain. She’s had a ruptured eardrum, so if she says that this works, I’m inclined to believe her. Here’s the message: “If Ben complains about pain, take an onion and mash it as you would a potato. Then, wrap it in something and heat it in the microwave till it’s hot (not hot like I'll burn you if I touch it, but hot). Take it out of the microwave and wrap it in a towel (don't worry you can wash it out after), put it on a pillow and then have Ben put his sore ear on it. When he no longer feels the heat, move a piece of towel away so he is one layer closer to the onion.” What do you think? Neat, eh? My pediatrician recommended a few drops of olive oil in the ear to ease pain. I’ve tried it with Ben, and it seemed to give him some relief. I’m going to try the onion. Why not? It’s an alternative that just might work. And I think that Ben would find it kind of fun to put...
7 comments
Read more

Here we go….

I’ve been wanting to start a blog for a while now. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about starting it, talking about starting it, tinkering with the layout (and that was hard because I am basically a computer-dummy), and now, writing it. Is anyone actually going to read what I write on here? Maybe. Well….my mom will read it (Hi Mom!). Regardless, I do have a purpose to starting this, and here it is: Deciding to be a mom was one the very best decision that I have ever made (second only to marrying Pierre), and I want to share that. The time spent being home with my boys goes by so fast. Ok….let’s rephrase that….actual days can seem endless (and there are definitely times when I call Pierre at work, and tell him not to dare come home without wine. Or chocolate. Or both!!), but still each day, each week, seems to be going by faster and faster. I blinked and my youngest went from being a baby to turning three years old this coming Tuesday. And the next time I blink he’ll be thirty-three!...
4 comments
Read more

A Brother’s Love

The boys had ice-cream for dessert tonight. In fact, not only did they have ice-cream, they had an ice-cream sundae with whipped cream and strawberries, a special treat as only Grandma can make. Spoiled little bugs. Just as my two sweet-toothed monkeys were about to dig-in, Grandpa, being “the silliest” as Nicholas calls him, pulled a fast one. Taking Nicholas’ bowl of ice-creamy-yumminess, Grandpa said: “Mmmm-mmmm. That’s my ice cream, Nicholas. Thank you!” And he pretended to gobble up the bowl. Nicholas was not impressed. He stuck-out his bottom lip, and gave a somewhat convincing fake cry while burying his little head in his chair. I wouldn’t have awarded him an Oscar for this particular performance, but his point was clear enough: Grandpa had his ice cream, and he wasn’t going to let it be eaten without protest. Now Benjamin, watching all this unfold, had a very different reaction. His big, blue eyes welled up with tears, not of the crocodile variety, his face cru...
4 comments
Read more