Swim lessons galore

So now that we have this beautiful new addition to our home, within a week it became painfully clear that it very well could be a death trap also.

Nathan REFUSED and still REFUSES to listen to anything I tell him to do in the water. Arm floaties - yeah right! Sit on the step and wait your turn - come get me mom, better hurry I'm goin' under. Cool life jacket with an alligator on it - he acts like I'm strapping a cactus plant to his back.

Back to swim lessons we go. For one week, we had Nathan finishing up the "easy" swim lessons in one location and also starting the "life or death" swim lessons in another location clear across town. Katherine was in the "easy" lessons for 3 years and it was just her pace. Basically, it is getting the child familiar with the water and making sure they love it. That wasn't the issue in our household, it was making sure this child was on his way to becoming drown-resistant because there was no fear or respect for the water.

He enjoyed the "easy" lessons and didn't care for the "life or death" ones, but at 21 months he can jump in the water and swim to the side.
Because brother was going into swim lessons at Katherine's alma mater, I decided to have her go for another two weeks with him. She successfully completed her Pre-school certificate and by the end was working on swimming Freestyle and breathing to the side. I declare that girl.

All in all each kid got 16 1/2-hr classes of swim lessons over a 6-week spread with the mileage to show it. It was all very worth it and the peace of mind is priceless.