Swimmeroo

At the orientation before Roo's first swim class last Monday, parents were told it would take about four days before our kids would be able to go straight to lessons without sobbing. I thought it was an exaggeration, but it really was true. For the first couple of days, it was horrible. Roo talked glowingly about her swimming lessons, even telling her new preschool teacher about what she is learning, but upon arrival, she would start to cry and say she didn't want to go. Her little body would convulse in sobs. Absolutely heartwrenching, especially with my 32 week pregnant hormones raging. (I suspect there is also a link between spending 40 minutes a day in the hottest place on earth and my swollen ankles, but that's another story.) Obviously there's a reason parents are sequestered behind a wall and can only catch glimpses of the little ones being dunked and trained to reach for the sides of the pool...



From my spy parent vantage point, I could see that Roo was not only not crying, but she was actually listening to the instructor. And trying to console the other kid, who was still bawling. Doing arm strokes and practicing kicks and blowing bubbles. Being dunked and not freaking out.




By Thursday, she didn't even put up a fight when we got to swim class. She gamely went to the instructor without even looking back. In the pool, she practiced turning her head to the side to breathe and paddled like a little frog. She leaped into the pool like a tiny Jacques Cousteau! Later, she even donned her swim gear to show grandpa when he stopped by after work. She demanded her fins and goggles in the bathtub and showed me some of the teaching rhymes her instructor uses: "heel, toe, snap together!" over and over again...



I'm so proud of my big mermaid girl!