Last year we decided it was finally time to put Kenzie into swimming lessons. We live in Florida and we typically swim from about April until September. Sometimes more, sometimes less. We swim A LOT though. BC (Before Children) we spent every weekend morning at the pool. Now, it is a bit more cumbersome to take 2 small children to the pool so it doesn't happen as often, but as they get older, we are hoping to get there more and more often. We also LOVE LOVE LOVE the beach. All of us. So, we despite the fact that we do not have a pool at our own home, we spend a lot of time in and around the water. Swimming lessons were a no brainer.
Before deciding where to get swimming lessons, I did a bit of research. I looked into the ever-popular ISR type lessons. After looking at those (and a TON of our friends use that for their kiddos), I knew that while it would likely work, it didn't seem like the best idea for a kid like Kenzie. She loves the water, but does have some fear. This kid is me to a fault in some aspects and I know that if I had a fear of something and was exposed in the way ISR does, I would never want to get back in a related situation. Even if I knew I could do it. So, ISR was out. Then, we started looking at Red Cross related lessons. Steven mentioned that he took lessons through the Red Cross as a kid. I didn't take lessons. I also didn't learn to swim until I was 9.
Background: Being from Mississippi, we didn't swim as much through the year. My grandparents had an above ground pool (I feel like there is a Mitch Hedberg joke hidden somewhere in there) but other than that, there weren't a lot of pools around. I fell in once when I was about 7 and had to be rescued by my older cousin. I can still remember the fear. I can swim now and am okay. I can tread water for what seems like forever but my swimming technique leaves a bit to be desired. Steven, on the other hand, is a fish. The boy could swim laps around me. So, I took note of his Red Cross idea immediately because I definitely lacked experience in this aspect of our lives.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. When I started researching Red Cross swimming lessons, I found a woman that has her own swimming school here in Apopka. I had actually driven by her home (where she runs her lessons from) a ton of times and despite noticing the sign, never put 2 and 2 together. Her lessons are done 1-on-1 in her own pool. She is Red Cross certified and her lessons follow the Red Cross's guidelines. Sold! So, we set up Kenzie's first set of 10 lessons. I had high hopes.
Her first lesson last year was pretty good. She did what she was asked to and only a few tears were shed when she had to go underwater. The instructor was phenomenal though and I don't know how she remained so calm. I still don't know. I have seen her in situations (with my own kid and others) that would make me want to throw in the proverbial beach towel, but she just remains calm and keeps right on going. As each lesson passed for Kenzie, she got better at doing what she was told, but still didn't seem to like it much. We ended up adding on another 10 lessons for Kenzie. That might have been our mistake for the summer. As school ended, the number of lessons going on at one time tripled. It initially was only Kenzie in the pool. Then, there were 2 more instructors and 2 more lessons at once. It's a big pool, but it was too much for our little Kenzie. Her last 10 lessons were difficult. She had a hard time with getting water in her eyes and we even had a few lessons where she would choke herself and spit up in or around the pool. That's fun. Watching them clear the pool to shock it because your kid got a bit sick all on her own doing. I feel I must mention, she wasn't the only one that ever did this. I saw a couple of other children have similar problems because the young ones sometimes get confused on spitting water out versus swallowing it. We did learn one interesting thing about Kenzie. She would be awesome in the military. She is a rule follower to a fault. Even if she hates the idea of what she is being asked to do, as long as it isn't Steven or me asking, she does what she is told. Through tears even at times. She ended up doing pretty well in her last 2 lessons because, for some reason, she was the only kid in the pool at those times. She did awesome at her final lesson when she had to be fully dressed and do everything she learned in clothing, including shoes. If you asked her afterwards, she would tell you she liked it. We aren't 100% sure about that.
Fast forward to this year. We knew we wanted to do lessons again with her. Kenzie cannot technically "swim" yet. She can get herself back to a wall if she falls in. She can roll to her back if she is on her stomach and try to float. Would instincts kick in if it happened? Hopefully. So, we definitely elected to return to the same swim school this year. The plan for the summer is to only do 10 lessons this year. Last year she ended up completing the first section of the Red Cross's lesson plan but that was after 20 lessons. I am unsure if only having 10 lessons will let her complete the second section, but we will see. We might have the option to add another 10, but I don't know if we will do it.
Kenzie started her lessons this week. Her first lesson was a refresher mostly of some of the very basic things she learned last year. She did great. It's amazing to see how much different she is now. She talked a lot last year, but this year she truly understands what she is being told. She is doing all of the skills so much better this year already. Her second lesson was when we figured we would have the true test. Last year, her 2nd lesson was her worst. She knew what to expect... and didn't like it. This year, she initially told me that she didn't want to go back because she was afraid of getting water in her eyes. When she got to the point of her lesson when she had to go under, she started crying. Her instructor asked her what was wrong and Kenzie said she was scared of water in her eyes. This year, her instructor explained that her eyes always have water in them and this was just a bit of extra water that goes away once you come up. She seemed to understand that and once she was calmed down, she did awesome! I can see the differences already. She still has some fear, but she is older and better able to understand now that she is being kept safe. Her instructor is always there and Kenzie told me that she knows Jesus is keeping her safe. (Side note: Her instructor is a minister's daughter and also a Christian so she reiterates these sentiments to Kenzie which helps her immensely. Second side note: Ironically, her instructor has a degree in engineering very similar to Steven's but from LSU. That was just funny for us.)
Right now we only have the 10 lessons scheduled. Not sure if we will choose to add more. I don't know that we will this summer. We also elected to hold off on Will for 1 more year. Next year he will be just about the age Kenzie was when we started her. Will is an entirely different animal than Kenzie though. While he also loves the water, he doesn't seem to have the same fears that Kenzie does. She was already showing us at 18 months that she was going to have a problem with water in her face. Will doesn't do that. However, Kenzie is super social and will go to and talk to anyone. Will is the opposite. He is super social as long as I am very close by. Being handed off to another person may not sit well with him. He has a year to get more comfortable with others though and he is already world's different than he was 6 months ago. So only time will tell.
We are super excited (now.... we were nervous before the week started) to see how Kenzie fares in lessons this year. The lessons build on one another year after year so our hope is to end up with both kids in them eventually and continuing them through to the point that they are learning things like different strokes and everything. It's only a small chunk of time out of our summer since we typically try to do lessons 3x's a week. The downfall to that is that for the next month, we are BUSY. It is crazy around here. We have school Tuesday and Thursday, swimming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then a host of other things going on in between like a doc appointment for Will, dentist appointment for Kenzie, Steven being out of town for a week for a training, and a bunch of other randomness. This week alone already has me exhausted so we will see how we feel at the end of May. It's worth it for water safety though.
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| In the Keys last summer when we pretty much lived on the beach for a week. |
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| Breaking out our kiddie pool since we haven't had time to make it to the community pool yet. |
Background: Being from Mississippi, we didn't swim as much through the year. My grandparents had an above ground pool (I feel like there is a Mitch Hedberg joke hidden somewhere in there) but other than that, there weren't a lot of pools around. I fell in once when I was about 7 and had to be rescued by my older cousin. I can still remember the fear. I can swim now and am okay. I can tread water for what seems like forever but my swimming technique leaves a bit to be desired. Steven, on the other hand, is a fish. The boy could swim laps around me. So, I took note of his Red Cross idea immediately because I definitely lacked experience in this aspect of our lives.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. When I started researching Red Cross swimming lessons, I found a woman that has her own swimming school here in Apopka. I had actually driven by her home (where she runs her lessons from) a ton of times and despite noticing the sign, never put 2 and 2 together. Her lessons are done 1-on-1 in her own pool. She is Red Cross certified and her lessons follow the Red Cross's guidelines. Sold! So, we set up Kenzie's first set of 10 lessons. I had high hopes.
Her first lesson last year was pretty good. She did what she was asked to and only a few tears were shed when she had to go underwater. The instructor was phenomenal though and I don't know how she remained so calm. I still don't know. I have seen her in situations (with my own kid and others) that would make me want to throw in the proverbial beach towel, but she just remains calm and keeps right on going. As each lesson passed for Kenzie, she got better at doing what she was told, but still didn't seem to like it much. We ended up adding on another 10 lessons for Kenzie. That might have been our mistake for the summer. As school ended, the number of lessons going on at one time tripled. It initially was only Kenzie in the pool. Then, there were 2 more instructors and 2 more lessons at once. It's a big pool, but it was too much for our little Kenzie. Her last 10 lessons were difficult. She had a hard time with getting water in her eyes and we even had a few lessons where she would choke herself and spit up in or around the pool. That's fun. Watching them clear the pool to shock it because your kid got a bit sick all on her own doing. I feel I must mention, she wasn't the only one that ever did this. I saw a couple of other children have similar problems because the young ones sometimes get confused on spitting water out versus swallowing it. We did learn one interesting thing about Kenzie. She would be awesome in the military. She is a rule follower to a fault. Even if she hates the idea of what she is being asked to do, as long as it isn't Steven or me asking, she does what she is told. Through tears even at times. She ended up doing pretty well in her last 2 lessons because, for some reason, she was the only kid in the pool at those times. She did awesome at her final lesson when she had to be fully dressed and do everything she learned in clothing, including shoes. If you asked her afterwards, she would tell you she liked it. We aren't 100% sure about that.
Fast forward to this year. We knew we wanted to do lessons again with her. Kenzie cannot technically "swim" yet. She can get herself back to a wall if she falls in. She can roll to her back if she is on her stomach and try to float. Would instincts kick in if it happened? Hopefully. So, we definitely elected to return to the same swim school this year. The plan for the summer is to only do 10 lessons this year. Last year she ended up completing the first section of the Red Cross's lesson plan but that was after 20 lessons. I am unsure if only having 10 lessons will let her complete the second section, but we will see. We might have the option to add another 10, but I don't know if we will do it.
Kenzie started her lessons this week. Her first lesson was a refresher mostly of some of the very basic things she learned last year. She did great. It's amazing to see how much different she is now. She talked a lot last year, but this year she truly understands what she is being told. She is doing all of the skills so much better this year already. Her second lesson was when we figured we would have the true test. Last year, her 2nd lesson was her worst. She knew what to expect... and didn't like it. This year, she initially told me that she didn't want to go back because she was afraid of getting water in her eyes. When she got to the point of her lesson when she had to go under, she started crying. Her instructor asked her what was wrong and Kenzie said she was scared of water in her eyes. This year, her instructor explained that her eyes always have water in them and this was just a bit of extra water that goes away once you come up. She seemed to understand that and once she was calmed down, she did awesome! I can see the differences already. She still has some fear, but she is older and better able to understand now that she is being kept safe. Her instructor is always there and Kenzie told me that she knows Jesus is keeping her safe. (Side note: Her instructor is a minister's daughter and also a Christian so she reiterates these sentiments to Kenzie which helps her immensely. Second side note: Ironically, her instructor has a degree in engineering very similar to Steven's but from LSU. That was just funny for us.)
Right now we only have the 10 lessons scheduled. Not sure if we will choose to add more. I don't know that we will this summer. We also elected to hold off on Will for 1 more year. Next year he will be just about the age Kenzie was when we started her. Will is an entirely different animal than Kenzie though. While he also loves the water, he doesn't seem to have the same fears that Kenzie does. She was already showing us at 18 months that she was going to have a problem with water in her face. Will doesn't do that. However, Kenzie is super social and will go to and talk to anyone. Will is the opposite. He is super social as long as I am very close by. Being handed off to another person may not sit well with him. He has a year to get more comfortable with others though and he is already world's different than he was 6 months ago. So only time will tell.
We are super excited (now.... we were nervous before the week started) to see how Kenzie fares in lessons this year. The lessons build on one another year after year so our hope is to end up with both kids in them eventually and continuing them through to the point that they are learning things like different strokes and everything. It's only a small chunk of time out of our summer since we typically try to do lessons 3x's a week. The downfall to that is that for the next month, we are BUSY. It is crazy around here. We have school Tuesday and Thursday, swimming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then a host of other things going on in between like a doc appointment for Will, dentist appointment for Kenzie, Steven being out of town for a week for a training, and a bunch of other randomness. This week alone already has me exhausted so we will see how we feel at the end of May. It's worth it for water safety though.
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