Swimming!

Today, I took the girls to their first official swimming excursion. We have a family pass to Swim West, which allows us ten visits for $65. This seemed a good way to slowly acclimate the girls to the concept of a swimming pool. It is indoors, very family oriented, and gently heated. On this first trip, I only wanted to provide them with a light introduction. I want this to be something they look forward to, which should make learning to swim easier in the future once they are more comfortable.

But that day isn't here yet. I was concerned that, as only one adult, I would have trouble adequately supervising the girls in the water. This was not an issue. I was in the water; the girls sat on the second step - their booties in two inches of water and their feet dangling below. They liked playing with the various flotation devices, toys, goggles, and swimming caps, and they even let me carry them (a little) out into the water. But that was about all I could manage. They were far too intimidated by this first experience.

What didn't help assuage their fears was the small toddlers' class taking place not eight feet from us. There, among the four young children and their instructor, was one young boy who was terminally mortified by being in the water. The instructor, as best as she was able, continued on with the lesson despite this boy's cries of abject fear. He called for his mama... he said he was scared... he cried some more. Juliette kept talking about the sad baby. Where was his mother, I wondered? I knew for certain that, no matter what full-immersion psychology was at work here, I could not let the girls experience swimming this way - something that was supposed to be enjoyable!

As it turns out, the ante-room we passed through to get from the lockers to the water contains chairs and a silent closed-circuit television that displays the goings-on in the pool. The ante-room is INTENDED for parents with children such as that crying boy. There, parents can watch their child's progress without having to subject themselves to 30 minutes of their baby crying out for them the entire time. I suppose this, too, is supposed to help parents allow their children "grow" and "become independent" - at the age of three. To me, it looked more like abandonment. I could not have sat by and allowed such a thing for my girls. I know all to well what it was like to be terrified of the water (without real cause - I was just scared), so I would never want the girls to have cause to feel such fear.

As it was, Juliette asked me repeatedly this afternoon and evening: "Mama, you would never drop Juliette in the water." I found this painfully sweet, and I did all I could to verbally reassure her. To demonstrate my reassurance, we're just going to have to take swimming very slowly. And we won't try lessons until they are much older, much more comfortable, and much less likely to resent the whole experience.