Today was the long-awaited first day of swimming lessons. I say “long-awaited” and mean it in two different senses: first, the kids have been counting down the days since we signed up a few weeks ago, especially Junior, who is old enough to join the fun for the first time this summer. And on that same note, I’ve been looking forward to this particular time in my life for a few years now . . . all children are old enough to be in lessons, so I spend my time reading rather than entertaining a toddler who can’t wrap his (or her) mind around the concept that he is not allowed into the pool with his siblings.
The big news of the day is where Junior ended up in his class. He is noticeably the youngest participate–most kids in his level range from 4-5–but we knew he was ready for lessons, based on his performance in our bathtub at home and at the hotel pools we’ve visited. Junior’s instructors lined his class along the side of the pool and asked them to attempted a few skills such as entering the water unaided, kicking feet, paddling hands, etc. Junior passed all with flying colors, so he ended up in Level 1B with four much-bigger kids. The top of his head comes to the shoulders of the next-shortest in his class. He’s thrilled to be out there doing what the big kids do.
