Swim Lessons, Summer 2013

Princess took swim lessons for two weeks this summer.  It was the same class she took last year, Sea Turtles.  Last year she sat on the sidelines and had to be coaxed into the water.  At the end of the class she received a report card that showed her as not mastering the skills needed to move on.  Husband was very disappointed and was excited for her to try again this year.

This year Princess was in a class with one of her good friends, so we were hoping it would be more motivation if they were together.  She was also in a class of all girls, as opposed to last year's all boys.

She did very well this year.  I was a proud mommy watching from the sidelines.  She paid attention and tried most everything the instructor asked her to.  She kicked.  She sat on the steps and listened.  She pretended she was a star fish.  She attempted to blow bubbles (she really does not like to put her face in the water).

One thing about this class that I didn't like was one of the other girls in her class (there were four students total, including Princess).  This girl was bigger than all the others.  All through swim lessons she seemed to pick on Princess.  I don't think she did it on purpose, per se, but I was hoping the mom would have stepped in more.  This girl, we will call Red.  Red wanted to pour water over Princess's head (Princess hates getting her hair wet).  She wanted to keep pulling Princess's braids.  She would grab Princess's legs whenever it was Princess's turn to go swim.  She was all up in her space.

I was outside of the pool watching all of this going on, standing right next to Red's grandma who had brought her.  Red's grandma said that Red has epilepsy and maybe some other disorders.

Is it rude of me to think, "So what?"  I commented to Red's grandma that Princess didn't like people touching her and wanted her own space.  Red's grandma just made some excuse that Red liked other kids.

Princess handled it very well.  She would scoot away from Red, or hold her hands up in front of her to block her off.  The instructor was good, too.  She would grab Princess and make it her turn to swim if she saw her being picked on.

Besides Red, swim lessons this year were a lot of fun.  Princess was a little more confident in the water, even though she still refuses to put her head under water.

At the end of the session, Husband eagerly awaited this year's report card, hoping to see some improvement.  However, the apologetic instructor had forgotten to bring it.  Thus, we didn't get one (I suppose I could have come back another day to get it, but I didn't think it was worth it).  The instructor did tell us to have Princess repeat the class next summer, hoping she's more comfortable with going under water then.

Third time's a charm, right?