Toddler Tuesday: Swim Lessons

Picture Courtesy of: 

 sapsmama.com

Geese are natural swimmers, right?  I want my goslings to be great swimmers.  Like geese in the wild, my goslings are drawn to the water.  With some of these hot summer days the only way to escape the heat is to lounge in the pool.  So, it is crucial that Brother and Baby Goose know how to swim.  Unlike the geese in the wild, my goslings need instruction in this area.  While I was a competitive swimmer from a very young age, I am not in any position to "teach" my goslings how to swim.  I love to hang with Brother Goose in the pool and practice his moves, but I'll leave the teaching to the pros.

We started swim lessons with Brother Goose pretty early, I think he was just two.  A good friend of our family has started teaching him, Ms. Jenny.  To be honest, I don't remember much about the lessons that year, other than there were a couple of tears the first few lessons, but by the end he and Ms. Jenny were bestest buddies.  Then last year, we took lessons again with Ms. Jenny and Ms. Ali.  Again, a few tears in the beginning, but towards the end he had two new best friends.

This year was a little different.  From about December until the end of May, Brother Goose had non-stop ear infections.  It has been a brutal battle.  My poor sweet boy has had every antibiotic out there and we've been to see the doctor enough that my health insurance probably owns an exam room in our name. (Maybe they should decorate it with geese!)  Finally a couple of weeks ago, he had tubes put in.  The surgery went well and if you didn't know he had surgery that morning, you would not have guessed it by his behavior in the afternoon.  His hearing is better, he hasn't had an infection since and we are all smiles!

You can imagine that at first we were a little tentative about even putting him in the pool this summer.  However, there is no keeping a very active four year old out of the pool or out of our boat.    Thankfully, Ms. Jenny was teaching at the right time that we could get it in before the tubes and then again after taking a break because of the tubes.

I am always amazed at what they accomplish in 45 short minutes.  Brother Goose is now doing his four year old version of butterfly, breast stroke and freestyle.  Not to mention, he's diving into the pool and "rocketing" up from the bottom.  It is so much fun to watch and I couldn't be prouder!

I don't envy swim teachers of little kids.  It's a daunting and important task with usually not much cooperation or gratitude from students.  Yet, year after year Ms. Jenny says "Yes, I'm doing swim lessons.  Come on over!" 

Thank you Ms. Jenny and Ms. Ali!  You have done an awesome job teaching Brother Goose and we truly appreciate your lifesaving lessons!  Now...Ms. Jenny, don't go getting a "real" job and move away! (Wink, wink!)

Momma Goose