Swimmin' Cousins

Living in a small town has taken a bit of adjusting in some ways, and has been a welcome change in others.

For instance, when we signed up for swimming lessons with Parks & Rec in the next town over and Teagan and her cousin, Sam, were the only two children registered for the class. It was amazing. 

I had talked up swimming lessons for a while, trying to get her excited about them and she couldn't wait to go. Until the morning we started. Then it was like pulling teeth to get her out of bed to go. But after many tears (mine) and much begging and pleading (again, mine), we arrived and all was well.

Their teacher, Miss Nancy, was a kind, grandmotherly type - not the stereotypical college student we were expecting. She was perfect for these two. She spoke to them very softly and they didn't have to wait long when she was doing one on one things, which was great for their first experience.

Right off the bat they practiced putting their heads underwater - a struggle I've never won even after nearly 4 years of bathing her. But she did it for a perfect stranger and that was nice to see - especially if she has a prayer of attending school in the near future. Tara (my sister-in-law) and I sat at one end of the pool, far enough to observe and not be tempted to intervene at every possible juncture when she wasn't listening to her teacher. It was a good exercise all around.

They were so proud of themselves for doing well and wanted to go back the next time. What a relief it is.

These two get along swimmingly for 3 year olds. Pun intended. They play very well together and are just so darling to watch interact. Now that we are living so close, I'm excited to watch them grow up together and have a built in friend through their formative years.

What with it being flu season and all, there were occasions when Sam didn't come and she was a wee bit devastated, looking for him through the glass doors. I was both surprised and impressed when they continued on with the lessons, even with just Teagan. Private lessons for the price of public? I'll take it!

They graduated from the first stage and went right into the second, with Mr. Gordon. Teagan, who does well when she has a heads up about new things, was less than excited about their new teacher who looked a little different than Miss Nancy, but warmed up later. They had two other children in their class and got a little rowdy at times, but did well overall. She LOVES putting her face under the water - to the point of scaring me - and is working on the front crawl (scooping ice cream). She jumps in, paddles, kicks, blows bubbles and picks things up from the bottom of the pool. For two sessions of lessons, it's pretty impressive stuff.