Swimming upstream

In Canada there are two things every kid needs to be able to do: swim and skate. These are mandatory for fun and safety and also skating is a prerequisite for playing hockey which might as well be mandatory as well. We have been completely negligent on this front. We didn’t do mom and tot classes, we didn’t go to family swims and sit in the pee pool at the Aquarena (well once and my kid wanted to play with the splash boards on the side of the pool not in the pool and the whole adventure lasted 15 minutes.) We tried introducing him to the water this summer at a pond. He was excited about wearing his new swim shoes, but when he got the toes wet tentatively stepping in he promptly stepped out and said: “I have to take my shoes off because they got wet, Mommy.” 

So now we are paying for our apathy. While he has no fear of the bath and splashes happily; our son is anxious about swimming. Any mention of it, even in a theoretical conversation or in a fictional way in a book results in a trembling lip and a firm “I never want to swim.”

So this week we registered him for classes and the people at the pool say they are professionals and are very good at coaxing anxious kids into the pool and helping them overcome their fear. We shall see. Watch for updates in September.

Have your kids taken to the water like fish or are they anxious about swimming? Let me know!