Swimming

This past weekend both kids went for swimming lessons for the first time. Andrea used to be very comfortable in the pool, but last year she fell into a pool and since then it’s been difficult for her to just sit on the steps. We thought she would get over the fear, but it seemed to get worse. Arno is the exact opposite. He would just jump in, go under water and when somebody takes him out he’ll just jump in again. I’m so scared of the day that there is no one around when he jumps in.

So Saturday we went to Mony’s Fishers in Constantia Kloof. Andrea was so nervous she insisted Arno must go first. They both got one on one training from the same teacher. Arno was not impressed with a strange lady taking him, but he didn’t cry. She started with throwing plastic toys in the water and then they’ll swim together to go and fetch it. He had this ‘why am I doing this’ look. But then they moved on to plastic balls which got his interest, and soon he was very relaxed in the water. When his lesson was finished he was screaming that he wanted to go back into the pool.

 

Andrea was the big surprise. I waited for the hysterics or the refusal to go into the water. She got in and within a few minutes she was swimming on her own for short distances. She went underwater (something she’s never done before) and came up again without any problems.  And she loved it. She can’t wait to go again next week.