A couple weeks ago I took Kate to our local Boys and Girls Club to go swimming in their pool. I knew from last year that their pool is not as warm as I would like it and the time of day for their swim is difficult for me to make it to on time (9:30am – Kate usually wakes up at 9), but I’ve really been feeling like I need to take her swimming at least a few times this winter, especially since this summer will be much more difficult with a newborn and toddler. So I went one morning. The water was indeed cold. I sucked in my breath… Kate shrieked. We didn’t really do much, I carried her around for a few minutes while she repeated “No! No! No!” and sobbed. I sat her on the edge so she could kick her legs in the water and that was acceptable to her – but she still would rather just run off somewhere. It was, needless to say, disappointing.

I know the YMCA has a warmer pool but I haven’t been a member there since I was pregnant with Kate. The membership fees are hefty – worth it if you’re going to take classes and use their equipment and go swimming all the time, but just to go swimming once or twice a month? I’m not paying $70 a month for that. A friend recently told me about a family swim night they are now doing, which is open to the community for a drop-in fee. I was so excited to hear that.

So this evening I decided to try it out. Den is out but I figure that’s just as well in case it’s another total failure.

When I carried her into the pool room her grip on my arm tightened considerably. I went down the steps into the water and she clung to my hip like a baby monkey. The water was most definitely much warmer – not quite “I’m in a bath” but at least warm enough that I wasn’t going to start shivering or anything. Kate was still very uneasy about this whole pool concept and she whined a few times. She didn’t like it when I moved around. There were other kids splashing and I think she was in overload for a little bit. They had a bunch of rubber duckies in the water so I distracted Kate with one (she kept shouting “DUCKIE!”). Then I sat her on the edge, which happens to have a lip and then a flat area in an inch or so of water, so she kicked her feet and splashed a bit. I think she slowly started realizing this was a lot like her fun baths.

It did take a while for her to relax, but I could feel the tension ebbing from her as time went on. She stopped grabbing me every time I moved, she started leaning away from me instead of into me, and she started talking. A lot. So I carried her around, I let her grab little balls and ducks and pool noodles. She started standing on the edge and counting (except instead of saying “One, two, three,” like I did she was garbling it a lot, sounded more like, “Da, go, TREE!”) and then I’d pick her up and swish her in the water. She thought that was fun, I kept doing it, dipping her a little further in each time.

Then she discovered the steps. She LOVES steps into pools. This time she wasn’t climbing out though, she was climbing in. I’d put her on the side of the pool and she’d walk over to the stairs, take my hands, walk down two steps and then “jump” in. She got pretty mad when I tried moving away from the stairs, she was really obsessed for a while. But every time she did it she got bolder. After a while she was holding my hands while jumping in but not scrambling to grab my body after she was in. I started holding her under the armpits and “swimming” her. She was doing really well on her belly, even kicking her legs a tiny bit when I encouraged her to. The more surprising part to me was when she started just hanging and drifting, letting her feet float to the surface in front of her as she leaned backwards. Then she’d shift upright and lean forward again. I think she was experimenting with her buoyancy and movement in the water. I was just holding her up, not directing her. A few times when I took her to the stairs she put her hands on one of the stairs and let her entire body float to the surface – without me holding her at all! She did get her chin wet, even got water in her mouth a few times. Once she slipped a little while climbing out and I’m pretty sure her face went in but there wasn’t a peep from her so I didn’t react at all.

I was really just so excited watching her – I find it’s hard not to grin idiotically the whole time. I was just so proud of her! She and I were having a great time, laughing and saying “Yaayyyy!” She talked a lot, actually – very loudly, in fact. She was yelling things like “Seat! Seat!!” when she wanted to sit on the edge, and “Ducky!!” and “Ball!” and “Yibber yibber go!!!” and other random nonsense just out of sheer excitement apparently. (People around me were giggling at my little chatterbox.)

After an hour and a half, at 8:00pm, I finally decided we had to go! Kate still wasn’t showing any signs of getting bored or tired of swimming. She did leave with me without complaint and happily walked right into the showers. She loves showers, she stands right underneath the spray. I got her out of that and into a changing room – I was very thankful they had nice family rooms with locking doors so no kid can go escaping naked down the hallway (yes, that happened last time!). Unfortunately Kate was not a fan of the wet tile floor. She was scrunching up her toes and crying, “Wet! Wet!” and then almost falling over because she was trying to pick her feet up off the ground. I had to sit her on a towel on the bench while I dressed quickly.

I really hope they continue to have these family swim nights!