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I've had a love affair with water since I was a child. Growing up in the "Land of 10,000 lakes" meant learning to swim was a given and many a summer was spent either in a lake or next to a pool. When I was older, I became a lifeguard (one of my chosen careers as a child) and later went on to teach swimming lessons through high school and college. I loved being in the water and getting paid to spend time in it splashing around with small children seemed like a dream job.
Since moving to Seattle, though, I haven't been in a pool outside of a couple of times. Part of this is due to lack of pools, but the other is that the bodies of water here are cold and never warm up. So while playing in the snow is very easy (another love), submerging into the water is much harder.
Still, it's important to me that the Beats learn to swim. As others talk about "mom and tot" swim classes, I've felt guilty about not introducing them to the water sooner. But it's near impossible given that both Grey and I need to be in the pool with them (one downfall with twins) while also juggling work schedules.
That changed on Saturday. The local multiples group we are part of hosted a pool party and I informed Grey that we were going. Armed with swim diapers and towels, we introduced the Beats to a pool for the first time. They were obviously overwhelmed by the new sounds, all the people, the tepid water and the fact that both their parents would disappear under the water, but they both started to warm up to the idea with lots of splashing and learning it's okay to pour water over our heads.
The goal is to try doing open swim at least once a month, getting them use to the water and the environment. All to help them transition into swim lessons. Though I don't expect them to go on to be Olympic athletes, I do hope that they will at least learn how to float and survive if they ever find themselves in a large body of water. But I also hope that one day they also have their own love affair.
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18 hours ago
Twins definitely make it much harder in terms of taking a class or just going to the pool in general until they both learn how to swim. We did a class with Izzy last summer and she enjoyed it but I'm not sure it was worth the money. I can see us taking her to the pool this summer but not taking a class again until it is more about learning strokes- even the doggie paddle. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! I hope that there are many happy swim parties to come ... my kids didn't learn until late, but my daughter loves it.
ReplyDeleteFun! We started the same way with X and now have him in the swim lessons at the Y once a week (adding to an already stressed schedule, but I suppose we need to get used to it).
ReplyDeleteLove this! I feel the same way (having also grown up in MN). So far there are no mom-and-tot classes that work with a parent who works outside the home though (boo)... so we just take them to the hot springs on the weekend as much as we can. Swimming is such an impt skill to have!
ReplyDeleteSwimming is such a huge fundamental life skill, it always blows my mind when I find people who don't know how. Sounds like you guys will have a blast!
ReplyDeleteooh, sounds so fun. I'm looking forward to inrtoducing AJ to water.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great time! We just started swim lessons with M on Saturday. We'll be doing it twice a week (Saturday and Monday)...so far so good. :)
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate. Being from the coast, I really hope Paloma loves the water. The donor we used mentioned his love for swimming a few times in his essay which I really loved. (He also mentioned his passion for soccer, which my husband loved!) We just had our first Mom and Baby exercise swim class and we loved it. I'm so glad the Beats had a positive first experience in the pool :)
ReplyDeleteOh, so much fun! I don't think I realized that water is colder in Seattle than Minnesota, but I'm glad you have pools where you can introduce your love of the water to your twins! Enjoy the classes!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to remember how I did the pool by myself. I guess most of the time we were going to the baby pool. And when I brought them into the main pool, they wore water wings. We have a pool a few blocks from our house, so we walk there most days during the summer. But I have to admit that I've been swimming less and less and watching from the edge. I don't know. I get into a mental space where I just don't feel like getting wet.
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