My Dolphins

When Sam was just over one year old she ran after her cousins who were trying to catch waves from a boat racing up the St. Croix River in Prescott. I stayed back a bit and watched to see what she would do, knowing that her cousins didn’t see her trailing behind. Sam had no fear; she raced into the water as if she was invincible. The first wave hit the shore and crashed over her head. Just as that first wave was on top of her I looked down and saw her blue eyes staring up at me from under the water;  her hand peaking out over the top of the wave. I grabbed her arm and brought her to my chest. She clinched my arms with shear panic in her face. We walked back up to our seats and I wrapped her in a towel. She sat there and cried, refusing to look towards the river. At that point I thought she was done with the water for a while. I asked myself if I will have to try to convince her to go near the water; to overcome her new found fear. After holding Sam for five minutes or so, she uncovered herself, slipped her little tiny body off my legs and ran off towards the water again. Wait a minute… what? No fear? Oh man… we are in trouble and I better do something about it.



  

This has been our life every Tuesday for 30 minutes during the school year for the past three years. There is no reading books or playing on the internet while swimming lessons are going on. The moment you look away one of them is calling and waving with excitement and a sense of accomplishment in their smile. I feel that swimming lessons are a vital part of growing up. I love swimming in the middle of the lake and just treading water out there. No floatation devices, just me and the water. I want my children to love water as much as I do and more importantly, respect for what the water is capable of. I want to know that if they needed to stay afloat for a long time that they could. It’s a matter of knowing when you need to tread, swim or float at that particular moment.

When Seth & Sam started at WiseSwim School in Apple Valley neither of them understood the concept of swimming. They weren’t afraid of getting their faces wet or about falling off the stairs into water that is too deep for them to touch. Over the past three years they have advanced through Mini Dolphins 1-3, Junior Dolphins 1-2. This session both have advanced to Junior Dolphin 3 where they will learn how to use breaststroke arms, dolphin kicks, treading water, how to swim two lengths of the pool, improve their stamina, and skills. They can both now swim the length of the pool freestyle and backstroke. Yes, they are good swimmers now. But am I ready to have them stop taking these lessons… Nope. They will start up JD3 this fall and continue for another 9 months until the start of Summer 2012. Who knows… maybe they will want to continue their lessons and make a sport of it. Nonetheless, I am very proud of my little swimmers and their rainbow arms.