Before winter set in I had a plan set up to make sure we got our butts out of the house and didn’t just wander Target for hours. I researched a few places and decided that I would stick not just my baby but myself in swim lessons. I can swim but she can’t so it becomes a mommy and me thing. We are on our third session and let me tell you, I freakin love it. Truly.
Every Friday I load us and our gear in the truck and head into the city for our 30 minutes class. We chose a place that starts babies as young as 4 months old. Our class holds up to 7 babies and their mammas. The locker room is hot as hell but at least your little one doesn’t freeze to death and the pool is kept warmer than your average. So the worry I had about dunking my kid around in the cold rooms and water after being outside in the cold is not that much of an issue.
The other moms are all really great and very laid back. Our teacher is a college student who not only knows her shit but my kid will go to her. If you have read long enough, you know my child doesn’t go to anyone so this is huge! Cora willingly takes her turn with her to practice jumps and to go down the slide.
Before we started, I remember thinking this was probably going to be pointless considering her age but I could not have been more wrong. We have had some of the same friends in our class since we started and I have seen progress with each and every one of them. Cora can climb out of the pool on her own, knows how to sit on the side, jump in, go down the slide by herself, knows to hold her breath under water, knows how to blow bubbles, isn’t afraid to be dunked, and last week, for the first time she did her back float by herself. She has such a comfort level in the water that I know it took me forever to gain as a child.
It took me awhile to realize that this isn’t just something to fill our time but something that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. It is about safety in the long run as well. I’m here to tell you that if you are on the fence about it, do it. But mamma, you have to shave those legs and keep the bikini line clear for the entire winter because it is always swim suit season when you have to get in the pool as well!
