Maddie's swim lessons

In May I decided it was time to let Maddie try being in a real class or two this summer.  So I signed her up for a spring creative dance class for three year olds at BYU as well as swim lessons at the Orem Fitness Center.  

She loves her dance class; and she hates to leave me.  Last week she cried for twenty minutes while I tried to convince her it was time to go.  She didn't want me to leave her but the parents are supposed to hang out outside of the class.  I finally convinced her to go by promising that if her teacher would let me stay that I would and if she wouldn't then she didn't have to stay either.  Well we got there and of course her teacher let me stay.  And wouldn't you know the moment I walked Maddie over to the group (they were sitting around the teachers mat at the time) she never looked at me again.  The teacher asked something like, "Who knows some ways we can make our little Winnie-the-Pooh dance?" Maddie shot her hand up "I  do!" And wouldn't you know she has such a great time and has a huge smile on her face when I come in after her class is over.  

Well, I wish swim lessons were the same kind of story: she has a hard time parting with me but loves every minute of it once she actually lets go of me and tries.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.  Her teacher's philosophy to swimming is that kids have to get used to getting their heads wet and the only way to do that with stubborn little ones like Maddie was to get them where they couldn't touch and then make them do a bob.  

Doesn't that sound miserable?  I know there are plenty of great teachers that subscribe to the notion that it's hard but you just have to make them get their faces in the water until they get used to it.  But I couldn't do it.  And I couldn't watch somebody else do it either.

So I came home after the first day and reread my WSI (Water Safety Instructor) manual from my Red Cross certification course and convinced Matt that Maddie's teacher was doing it the wrong way and that I was going to personally give Maddie swim lessons for the next two weeks since we had free access to the pool anyways.

I did have to bribe her with M&Ms but it worked beautifully.  I think ten or fifteen M&Ms a day was worth the cost of convincing her to put her own face in the water.  She would get one piece of chocolate each time she practiced doing something that I knew what was a challenge for her.  We started out really basic.  Can you get your chin wet?  Can you close your mouth and get your lips wet? Can you plug your nose and get it wet?  And then on to things like these: Can you use your goggles to look under the water?  Can you get your forehead wet?  She got extra M&Ms for floating on her back because she really didn't want to; but she had to practice and I promised I wouldn't let go or even let her ears get wet the first couple times.  She got rewards for pointing her toes and doing strong kicks, for blowing bubbles, for getting the rings on the third step, and for jumping in.  Although jumping in ended up being her favorite part and she wanted to do it over and over and over again just because she had so much fun doing it.  That ended up being our compromise of a bob--going all the way under and then popping up again after jumping in.  We'll have to try harder for real bobs next time.

She can do a front glide with assistance, jump in the water (going under) with assistance, do a half decent flutter kick on her stomach and a poor flutter kick on her back, blow bubbles (still has a hard time doing it through her nose but she keeps trying), float on her back with assistance and roll from front to back and back to front with assistance.  We are still working on getting submerged objects (pool rings) where she has to go under the water to do it, but she'll get there.  For me the most important thing she's gained is confidence that the water can be fun (it took a lot of time and patience getting that feeling back after her first swim lesson).  And she feels so proud of what she can do in the water.  To me that is so great to see.  And that's pretty good for just-turned-three-year-old whose just had her first real swim lessons.  We'll work on starting to do skills without assistance next time around.

Yesterday we got her small little blow-up pool out and put in on the back patio (among the piles of dirt from our trench).  Even though it was super shallow she and Lucy and I had fun splashing in it and she kept practicing her flutter kick, blowing bubbles, and back float.  She never actually got on to her back all the way but she made me smile as she laid on her side trying to do it.  :)

Lucy was happy to play but also happy when Matt came home and took her in to get dry.  She is so smiley and happy--really the perfect baby.  Loves to watch whatever Maddie is up to, just started crawling everywhere, insists on trying whatever I'm eating, so cuddley and lovable.  She is such a Momma's girl and has an iron grip if she senses somebody is going to try and take her from me to hold her--she grabs my shirt or hair or ear or just wraps her little body and her little arms close around me.  But she also LOVES Matt.  And Maddie.  And Kimmo.  And she's starting to be more friendly with other non-immediate family members and friends.  She fell in love with us and us with her pretty much immediately but it's been a long slow process for her to open up to many other people besides Matt and Maddie and me.  Congratulations to those rare few who have gotten her to open up and be playful with you too.  She is my sunshine for sure.

As a side note this is the swimsuit I made for Maddie.  She loves it.  And that is so satisfying.  She and I played in the pool together some more after Lucy went in.  And when we were sitting on the patio chairs drying off I told her how reminiscent it was for me to play with her in the water because I loved playing with my mom in our pool when I was little.  The water was even warm, like it is in Florida.  (The patio was pretty hot and I think that helped heat it up along with the sun and the hot day.) Maddie loved hearing about the pool games I used to play and about how Mom taught me how to swim, and give me "dolphin rides."  Maddie loves stories.  She wanted me to repeat how we played sharks and minnows, and how Mimi did swim lessons.  She loves to listen to stories--both real and made up.  Matt came out eventually and asked if we were coming in soon.  But he was happy to know Maddie kept wanting more and more pool stories.