I called (DJ's daycare girlfriend) Grace's mother, Nadia, to see if they would be interested in having the lovebirds go together. Indeed, Nadia was interested, so we signed up the kids together in the same class at Kids First Swim in Cockeysville. We went to both Kids First Swim and the Maryland Athletic Club (MAC) to see what their facilities and programs were like. We chose Kids First Swim because it's the only thing they do... unlike the MAC where it was just one enormous distraction because of all the adults swimming in other pools... To be fair, the facilities at Kids First Swim (i.e. the locker rooms) leave a lot to be desired, but the pool is what's important, and it was nice enough! Anyway, DJ and Grace are in the same class, and (the other lovebirds) Elektra and Evan are in their own class together, too.
DJ and Grace's class is 5 kids per 1 instructor, and no parents! We get to stand behind a one way mirror so we can see him, but he can't see us! It's an excellent time for DJ to learn how to listen and follow the direction of an adult other than the usual suspects. This worked out well for us because Grace started to come back to try and find Nadia but because we were where she couldn't see us, she effectively had to go back to the class and tough it out.
As it turns out, DJ didn't even look back for me; he was sooooo excited to be in the water. And Grace eventually warmed up to the whole idea. Both kids did fantastically with all the things the instructor was trying to get them to do: blow bubbles, float, walk through the water, etc.
On the other hand, Elektra's class is a Mommy and Me class where a parent gets in the water with her. Jeff and I took our 2 youngest into the water when it was our turn. Elektra had kept saying that she wanted to go in the pool the entire time DJ was in, so she was set to go! She had no issues getting in with me. Evan, on the other hand, he pretty much panicked, and Jeff spent 90% of his class time trying to coax Evan to go further out into the pool with us.
Elektra splished splashed water with us, tried to blow bubbles, floated on her front and back while kicking all the while... she did great. Then about 20 minutes into her half hour lesson, she hit the "I am done with this now now now" wall, and promptly melted down, screaming "I want Daddy! I want to see Daddy!"
I tried to calm her down, and letting her play with a pool noodle seemed to help. Then it was time to dunk her under the water. Well... you want to talk about freaking out my daughter... I did it. She was *mad* (but she did great with the dunking!).... oh boy she was mad.
The instructors all said to make sure that kids leave the pools with smiles on their faces, so do whatever necessary to make that happen. I took Elektra back to the pool noodle, and she was happy to play with that for a bit.
All in all, I wonder if maybe Evan and Elektra are still just a little too young for the lessons, but DJ and Grace are definitely the perfect age!
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