The girls just finished their swimming lessons on Friday. And they loved it!
Except for at the beginning.
Except for at the beginning.
At the first lesson, Sami and Janie were begging to go home. At one point Sami ran out of the pool telling me she wanted the blue van, meaning she wanted me to drive her home. Their teacher, Miss Allison, had them stick their faces in the water and started teaching them how to swim and reach for the side of the pool from the first lesson. Which is great, but didn't go over very well with the girls.
I wasn't sure I was going to stick with it at that first lesson, but Miss Allison assured me that after 2 or 3 lessons, they would like it. So I decided to pull out the big guns for the second lesson: I told them if they did good and didn't cry, I would take them out for hamburgers and french fries.
From that moment on, they have loved swim lessons.
Seriously.
And I only bought them burgers and fries that one time! ☺
She taught them how to float and Janie loved to float. She would smile and it was darling! Swimming and kicking under water was a little bit harder for Janie, but floating was great.
Miss Allison also taught them to dive. Sami loved it, but it was a bit of a struggle for Janie, but by the end, she was doing really well.
Sami seemed to catch on to how to kick and move her arms right away. When Miss Allison told her to swim, she would kick ferociously. She loved Miss Allsion, she loved swimming, and her favorite was at the end of the lesson when she would dive for rings. She loved the rings!
I will say that when Miss Allison asked me to drop my girls off the diving board, I had serious heart palpitations. I kept saying "What? You want me to do what?" She was under the diving board and always caught them. But it was hard tossing my babies off!
At one point during the lessons, I told Jonathan that I hated seeing Janie cry when she was learning dives or being dropped off the diving board (sorry, Janie!), because I know just how she feels. I was afraid of that too (and truth be told, I still am). So I feel sorry for her. But Jonathan asked me if I wished someone had helped me work through my fears. And the answer is YES! So Janie and I stuck with it. And now I find her pretending to be a pool and diving for rings.
They both learned a ton and I am so proud of them.
So next year, we will be back with Miss Allison.
6 comments:
So fun! I know it's hard to watch that but they get it. I know with the twins one of them bite their teacher, then I just worked with them, and they would run out of the pool gate and stand in the corner crying.. But one day it clicked and they were like "let's hold hands" and they held hands and swam across the pool together.. too funny. Now it's Reeses turn to learn and when I ask him if he wants to swim he just looked terrified and says NO, he crys and crys, but they have got to learn to swim.. so bring them over to practice in my pool ..
Way to go, Little Ladies!!! Swimming is a natural fear that almost all kids have to conquer. I'm proud of them (and you too, Chrissy) for sticking with it.
AWESOME! I always said I would never bribe my kids-- until I had them. I would do just about anything for a hamburger and fries too!
YEAH! I am so glad you liked Allison. We love her!
YEAH! I am so glad you liked Allison. We love her!
look at janie diving in to the pool! could she be any cuter???
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