Monday Charlotte and I went to the pool at Tulare Western for a Parent & Me swim class. The class is taught by five or six instructors. The instructors circulate around the pool and spend time with each parent-child dyad asking the child to try a basic skill such as blowing bubbles or kicking or floating on their back with support or holding their breath and dunking under the water for a few seconds.
On Monday, though she complied with all the tasks, Charlotte's body felt rigid and she clung fiercely to me.
Tuesday, her body was noticeably more relaxed and she showed more willingness to let me hold her at arm's length. The instructors had her kick and "swim" back and forth between us (with one of us holding her up for most of the trip). She enjoyed it so much that as soon as she reached one of us, she would immediately turn around to do it again. We also had her do the same trick but pushing off of the pool wall instead of a person. Last but not least, she jumped in the pool to my arms a few times. On the last time, I let her submerge for just a few seconds before bringing her back up. She seemed a little startled by that but got over it quickly.
Later that night when Adam asked her how swimming lessons went, she said gleefully, "I jumped in the pool and went down down down to the bottom and I drowned!"
We're about to head out for the third lesson. I can't wait to see what new confidence and skill she gains today and the rest of the class -- which meets M-F through July 22.
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