Luke’s first swimming lessons

Yesterday Luke completed his two-week swimming course at the city pool! Sidestroke, flip turns, competitive diving, you ask? Well, not that type of swimming lesson. The parent and tot course’s primary goal is just to make kids more comfortable with the water and lay the groundwork for future swimming skills. Luke did great with kicking his legs – which is not so surprising given the practice he gets while tantruming in my arms or on the floor. His leg strength is considerable!

He was reluctant to add in the arm movements, but by the last lesson he added a little paddling to his powerful kick. He could almost propel himself forward when he was really into it! Most kids weren’t as enthusiastic about kicking their legs and ‘swimming’ around the pool as our Luke was, but they were much better at jumping in from the side. When Luke is set up on the side of the pool, he helpfully takes off running in the opposite direction, forcing his parent to sprint out of the pool after him! We didn’t give him quite as much time to practice that ‘skill’…

I was only able to snap a single pic (see above) before a lifeguard informed me that photo-taking is not allowed. I hadn’t seen a sign and had noticed several other parents snapping away with little cameras, but apparently a big zoom lens on a chunky SLR crosses the line. However, I can share a pic of the certificate that was presented to Luke upon completion of the course. As his proud parents, we were pleased to receive such a cute certificate. But on closer examination it’s evident that the paper certifies not successful completion of the course, but failure! No grade inflation at the city pool, even if you are only one!!