The Importance of Being a Swimmer

By Whitney

Multi-media art class, Music & Movement, Circus Arts, Ukelele, and Gymnastics. These are some of the different lessons my five year-old son has taken over the past year or two. He has loved them all. And then there’s swimming.

Swimming has been infrequent, barely tolerated, and fairly ineffective. You might notice from the list of activities above that my son has zero interest in sports. Therefore any invitations from his parents to try out soccer and t-ball have been rejected. I’m not asking him to consider swimming as a sport, however. Since he’s never willingly put his head underwater, I think we are still miles, or at least meters, away from any athletic swimming. I just want him to be water-safe.

Many approaches have run through my mind: daily lessons until it sticks; private lessons; lessons with me out of the room; teaching him myself. Frankly, the whole thing is sort of a pain, when you compare it to a dance class. You know, the wet swimsuit, the locker room and all that.

Again, I’m not looking for an achievement for him. I’m just hoping for a level of proficiency that allows me a little more relaxation around the pool.

Here are a few Water-Safe principles that I want him to know:

Supervision is a must: Follow the 10/20 rule when you’re at the pool. The 10/20 rule states the supervising adult needs to be able to scan the pool within 10 seconds and reach the water within 20 seconds.
Flotation devices, toys and inflatable swimming aids are not safety devices:These popular poolside items are toys and can easily puncture and deflate.
Empty small wading pools after children are done playing and remove all toys: Infants can drown in just a few inches of water. Pool toys may attract children to the pool when it is unattended.

For more, maybe we should watch this live streaming “Safety Smart in the Water Video” with Pumbaa and Timon. Maybe that might do the trick.

Am I obsessing unnecessarily? How old was your child when swimming fell into place?