The Smiths: Swim Lessons

I'd been debating for several weeks whether or not to do swim lessons with the girls this summer. The Texas Tech classes we did last year filled up quickly and no ideal time slots were left by the time I got around to thinking about it, so I kept putting it off. I finally decided we'd try Seahorse swim lessons, a local pool where you pay for 9 lessons then choose when you want to come. And it came with a guarantee that the kids could pass the class by the end of their 9 classes or they could keep coming back for more lessons.

We went for it! Super excited for the first day!

Lesson 1 - Wednesday, June 13th:

At the beginning of each lesson, they divide the kids out into various classes, based on demonstrated swimming ability. All three girls started in the easiest class on the first day :)

Lesson 2 - Friday, June 15th:

Eve and Abigail ended up in the same class that time, with Halle in a different one. All the girls were struggling to put their faces in the water, with Halle doing lots of crying when it was her turn. This was a reoccurring theme over the rest of the lessons.

Cora and I got to sit on the side (hopefully in some shade!) and watch. And try to stay entertained by wearing Halle's glasses....

The girls were brave that day (I told them they had to at least try to do everything their teachers asked, and they did!) so we got some cotton candy at the snack shack on our way out.

$2 well spent!

Lesson 4 - Tuesday, June 19th:

(Apparently I took no pictures during lesson 3?)

Eve suddenly blossomed during the 4th lesson and was putting her face in, swimming unaided, and even went off the diving board! Belly flop seems to be her preferred method, but she did it! And loved it! She improved quite rapidly from this point.

Lesson 5 - Thursday, June 21st:

Eve progressed to diving practice! We did this class at 6pm that evening so Andrew joined us to watch. I told him I didn't think there was anyway Eve would actually try diving, but she proved me wrong! She did it multiple times - even standing on at least one!

Note Halle and Abigail in the foreground attempting to blow their bubbles.

Lesson 6 - Friday, June 22nd:

Eve was quite the little fish by this point, but still prefers to belly flop off the diving board. She said it doesn't hurt! She can jump of the diving board and swim to the side without her teacher's assistance.

Lesson 7 - Tuesday, June 26th:

I promise I did capture footage of Halle and Abigail, it was just mostly in video form. They were both in the easy class and still struggling to put their faces in the water. I don't blame them! I don't like it either!

More diving practice for Eve!

And more cotton candy as a reward for trying! This was the lesson that Abigail refused to even get in the water ("I want to stay with Momma!!!), so she didn't get any of the treat with her sisters. But Cora was anxious for her share!

Lesson 8 - Wednesday, June 27th:

Abigail went to class this time, so Cora had to play by herself :(

And finally the big day!

Lesson 9 - Thursday, June 28th:

Halle and I talked and talked before class because she really wanted to graduate from swim, but did not want to put her face in the water. To graduate, one of the instructors tosses the child in the deep end and they have to swim to the side by themselves. Halle cried and cried because she couldn't decide which was most important to her - graduating or not getting her face wet. I told her we would be proud of her either way and just wanted her to feel good about her choice. She finally decided that she did not want to graduate, but would do her best in her last class and try not to cry. She ended up with a great teacher for that session and she did amazing! She was so brave, put her face in several times, and even swam a few seconds at a time by herself. May not sound like much, but for Halle it was a huge accomplishment and we were so proud!

And she was proud of herself and happy with her decision, which was important to us.

Abigail also had an eventful last class. She started crying for me a few minutes into the lesson - one of her freak outs where she absolutely will not stop until I hold her. They got an extra teacher to come work one on one with her to try to get her to calm down and maybe pass the class, but she just couldn't. Unfortunately, the teacher was a little harsh in his methods, which only made matters worse. When she wouldn't stop crying, he'd dunk her under the water or threaten to make her go to the deep end, which terrified her. It didn't take long before instead of crying, "I want my Mommy to hold me!" it was "Please stop!". We were not happy and I told Andrew (who'd come to watch the last class) to pull her out. Poor girl! Apparently I didn't take a picture, but she spent the rest of the lesson snuggling either Mom or Dad, just happy to be out of the pool. Hopefully she's not traumatized for life??? :)

Eve, as expected, graduated from swim lessons! She got to stand on the diving board, showing off her certificate while everyone cheered!

And afterward, she wanted to go off the diving board a few times before we headed home. I was a little nervous, because every time before this when she'd done it, a teacher had been close at hand, just in case. But this time she did it all alone, and she did great! She went three times before we had to leave so the next class could start!

She also showed us the backstroke she's been working on - we're very impressed with this girl!

An instructor came by to remind us that we could keep bringing Halle and Abigail back for more lessons until they could pass, but I as much told them that won't be happening. We're very proud of what Halle and Abigail accomplished and don't see the need to keep torturing them with lessons they aren't enjoying. Plus, we leave on our big summer trip at the beginning of July!

Abigail was wiped out by the time we got home, so she and Cora went to bed. Eve and Halle got to stay up late and enjoy half-priced shakes from Sonic with Mom and Dad as their reward for their hard work in swim lessons!