Swim Lessons, Take Two

The kids had their second swim lesson this morning and I have to say, it went great. We got there with just a few minutes to spare because of traffic, but, we made it on time. Harper was anxious to get started and Dakota was a bit hesitant, but nothing like last week.

I was a little surprised when I looked in the pool to find that our teacher wasn’t there. I was a little worried when I realized that this week’s teacher was a male, but I didn’t say anything and when the lady came to take the kids into the pool area, I just let it go. I know Dakota was worried because she had a little glint of panic in her eye, but she decided to roll with it too, and she ended up doing terrific! Harper, as usual, didn’t blink an eye. He just went in and got straight to it. :)

They did some of the same things as last week like blowing bubbles, kicking their feet and splashing around to Ring Around the Rosy. But, about half way through the lesson the instructor picked them both up and brought them out to the deeper end of the pool. As I watched I could see that he was telling them to hold their breath because he was going to take them under. Both kids were hesitant and it took some coaxing, but they both held their breath and down they went. When they came up I fully expected one of them to be crying, but there wasn’t  a single peep out of either of them. Then, they went under again. And again. And again. No crying. Not even once.

I was in utter disbelief, sitting and watching my babies going under the water over and over again. I mean, I know they’re getting big and all that but that was pretty major. And WAY cool. And a HUGE step from just a week ago when Dakota cried her eyes out for the first 5 minutes of class.

The last game they played before I went in to get them was “save the ducks”. There was a hula hoop floating in the water with a bunch of rubber ducks inside. The kids had to go under water, grab a duck, go back under water and bring the duck to the wall to safety. And, do you know they saved every last one of those ducks! There were probably 20 and that tells you how many times they each went under water to save a duck! At least 10 times each. It was amazing to watch and you can just imagine how proud I was watching those two little cuties. I will never again doubt the strength of those kids. They showed some serious moxxie today and I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when there are other hurdles to pass.

Afterwards, as I was helping them get dressed they were excitedly telling me about their lesson. I asked them what they thought about going underwater and Harper just shrugged and said that’s what the teacher wanted them to do. Dakota said “Me did it, but me not want to.” “Me not like it!”