Our little turtle Evan

The first level of preschool swimming lessons in town is called "turtle".  The goal of this class it to get kids comfortable with putting their faces/heads under water.  We'd worked with Evan in the pool prior to this, mostly a year ago during our holiday in Australia.  During that trip, he'd gotten quite good at "swimming" on his own with a pool noodle, in fact, but still was leery about the head under water.  In part, because he hadn't quite figured out how to hold his breath yet.

Anyway, I figured he was ready to start swimming lessons now that he's three and a half and talks about swimming a lot, especially while he's in the bath tub.  The class we enrolled him in meets twice per week, which I think is helpful to keep what he's learning fresh in his mind from one class to the next.  They sing songs and practice back float and tummy floats, and putting various parts of their head/face under water.  He is now in his 4th, and last, week (on his 7th class) of this session (although he's missing class tonight due to being a little sick still from this past weekend).

The second class I had a chat with the manager to ask how many times it's common for kids to repeat levels of the classes and I was told 3-5.  Wow!  I'm glad I asked, so that I'm more prepared for what is to come!  I was hoping maybe 1-2 times per level myself.  During that class she told me it looks like Evan will need to repeat turtles at least once more since he was not putting his head under water yet. However, that very class, Evan went under (up to the top of his nose) and didn't choke or cough!  And since, he's been going deeper and still not coughing when he comes back up.  So, I think he may have finally figured out how to hold his breath!  Yippee!

The best news was that in his second week, after his 4th class, the teacher said Evan was doing so well (going under every time she asked just fine) that if he keeps that up he'll be ready to be an "alligator" next session!  That's the next level!  I was so proud to hear that...I don't think I ever realized how much pride I would feel over my kids' accomplishments, even simple ones like that.  Then after his 5th class she said to go ahead and get him enrolled to get a spot in alligators for the next session, and so now he's officially enrolled in that next level starting next month after this session is over (one week from today).

Seeing him completely put his whole head under water now during his classes is amazing to me!  Knowing just a few weeks ago he didn't know how to do that, and yet now he's doing it with ease.

I am less sure, however, that he'll make it through alligators as quickly, given the goal there is to float on your back and your tummy unassisted for 5 seconds each, and be able to roll back and forth between the two in the water.  That will be a big step for Evan, so I'll still prepare myself for several sessions in that level just in case.  Nonetheless, as quickly as he learned to put his head under, I cannot underestimate him.  In fact, after his 6th class this past week, the teacher told us even his back floats were getting more comfortable...does that mean he'll be able to do them on his own easily enough once he starts alligators?  Only time will tell...

We're also going to start trying to go to the pool as a family on weekends, when John is off, so Evan can practice and so we can work with Emma too.  I hope that will also help keep his lessons and things he's learning fresh in mind to hep him advance as quickly as he can.  He really wants to go in the "deep water", so I think that is his personal motivation to do well in class, because we tell him he can't go in deep water until he knows how to swim by himself.

Regardless, it's been quite a ride for us as parents to put Evan in a class and have him go into a swimming pool with a stranger and handful of other kids, while we sit up in an observation room.  It felt so strange to be so far from him, given we've always been right there for pretty much everything he has done.  Tumbling class was the first time we'd put him in a class without us there, and we had to watch from another room (via a video camera) and that also felt strange, but not as much as this.  Perhaps it is the fact that the pool is quite dangerous for a little kid that doesn't know how to swim that made this feel more strange?  Either way, I think these kinds of lessons are just as good for us as parents to start to "let go" a bit, since by the time he starts school there will be a lot more lessons and things he'll be learning where we're not there at all.

Parenting is such a ride...often full of things that I never expected.  These kinds of moments, where I take pride in my child's achievements, were one type of experience that I didn't really anticipate would be the thrill that it was.  And it's certainly one unexpected thrill that I'm willing to experience again and again as much as possible!