Milestone in Swimming

Today was a milestone in swimming for Alton: his first swimming lesson without Mommy or Daddy in the pool! He has lessons in the afternoon Monday through Thursday for the next two weeks. His teacher, a jovial guy named Flip, led four kids through some skill-building activities that get them in a good position to learn real swimming techniques later on. Alton also has a friend in class! A little girl from his playgroup, only two weeks younger than he, sat beside him on the steps throughout today's lesson.

In this "Intro to Swimming" class, the kids sit on the steps of the bathwater-warm therapy pool while their parents hang out on the sidelines with cameras and camcorders in hand (at least in the case of myself and Alton's little friend's mommy). As they first sat down to listen to Flip's instructions about the first maneuver they'd walk (swim?) through, they put on very serious faces and paid close attention.

One by one, Flip would lift up a child and hold him (or her) close and steady above the water level to kick-kick-kick down the lane, while the other three kids waited patiently on the steps for their turns.

Alton and I have done this together in the pool many times, but he was a bit bashful about performing for Flip, so his typical wildly splashing doggy paddle was replaced by a more tentative foot wiggle.

After some time spent benchwarming, Alton came out of his shell and was ready to show off a bit for his little (girl)friend. He threw me some mischievous, charming grins as he giggled, kicked his feet on the steps, and splashed her with water while the teacher was busy with another child's turn. His moment of cutting up for the other kids definitely had a back of the bus, "parents aren't around" kind of feel to it. I tried hard not to hover as I reminded him that "if the other kids tell you not to splash them, you need to stop." Oh, Mom.

But Mr. Showy Off clammed up all over each time it was his turn with Flip. First they were each asked to blow bubbles in the water in turn, then it was time for an "airplane" float, where Flip was only gingerly supporting each child's head, with ears below the waterline, while the kid held arms and legs out relaxed and straight. Below you can see how reluctant Alton was at first to let go of Flip's hand!

It only took him a second, though, to listen well and follow the instructions to put his arms out and let his legs relax straight. Great job, Alton!

Finally, before they all lined up at the edge of the pool to jump in by turns, Flip held a pool ring toy underwater for each child to grab. The idea was that by holding the ring low enough, the child would reach for the ring and dip his or her chin briefly in the water, to get used to submerging parts of their faces. When Alton's turn came, he grabbed for that ring and dunked his whole face and head! He came up spluttering, but didn't miss a beat (although his hair was quite wet after that).

One down, seven to go!