Treading Water

For the first time in almost 10 years, I only had to sign up one child for swim lessons. My rule is that as soon as they can jump off the diving board and swim to the side without any sort of assistance, they don't have to take swim lessons anymore. That usually happens when they pass Level 4, which the twins did last year. They will take one more session when they are 12; a little refresher course to help them swim better while at scout camp (which is what Ammon did, too).

After last year's anxiety attack while waiting in line for swim lesson sign-ups (I got there an hour and a half before sign-ups, was the second person in a long line that went out the doors of the building, waited patiently, and still when I got to the sign-up table, they told me I'd have to be in two separate lines for all 3 of my children to get into the same session. It was the most stupid set-up, and I was soooo upset. It all worked out that they ended up being in the same session together, but still), I knew I never wanted to go through that again. Since I only had one child to sign-up for this year, I asked Kanyon if he'd rather have private lessons. The cost is the same ($50) whether you're in a class with 5 kids or take it privately. The difference is the swim class lasts 8 days, and the classes are 45 minutes long. For private lessons, the classes last only 4 days and are just 30 minutes long each. He said he wanted private lessons, and I was overjoyed. I went in to swim sign-ups about 15 minutes before it ended, there was no line, I signed him up for the week that worked best for me, and I was out of there in 5 minutes without the hassle.

So, Kanyon took Level 3 swimming lessons the 3rd week of June. His instructor was Jacob, and his instructor-in-training was Evey.

The first day of swimming lessons made my insides boil, but after that, he had a good rest of the week. His lessons started at 11:00 each day, and there were classes that were just ending at that time. The first day, I dropped him off with Jonah at 10:58, and told Jonah to help Kanyon go through the boys' changing rooms and into the pool area, because I had to pick Micah up from an appointment in town at 11:00. I drove down to get Micah, and came back at 11:05. Jonah was waiting out front and said that Kanyon had gone into the pool. So I drove around to the backside of the pool (it's an outdoor pool, but the only access is through the front of the building), but I couldn't see him in the water anywhere. I figured the lifeguard made him take a shower, so I waited 5 more minutes, but he never appeared. Finally, I drove back to the front of the building, went inside, and asked what the problem was. The lifeguards were standing there talking to each other and they were all clueless. I said that my son had private lessons at 11:00, and that I'd dropped him off early, and he had gotten in the water, but now he was nowhere to be seen. Finally, one of the lifeguards said that she told him to go to the dressing rooms to wait because she thought he was in one of the next classes that started at 11:15. Kanyon's instructor didn't even realize that he had a student at 11:00. So, Kanyon had been waiting alone in the dressing room for almost 15 minutes while his instructor did nothing. Thankfully, the rest of the week his lessons started on time. But his instructor called him "Cannon" all week long. I corrected him several times, as did his co-teacher, but it wasn't until halfway through the last lesson that he finally started saying it right.

There is only one option for swim lessons in Salmon, and sometimes it's not the best option.

Anyway, Kanyon worked hard all week to get all the requirements done. He swam frontwards and backwards. He floated and treaded water. He dived off the side of the pool and off the diving board. He swam in the deep end a lot, and since he can't touch the bottom there, it took a lot of effort. He did so well, and I was so proud of him for working so hard every morning. He was worn out by the end of each lesson!

He passed all the Level 3 requirements, but his only difficulty was treading water, so it was recommended that he have one more year in the Level 3 before advancing to the more difficult Level 4. 

Kanyon has always enjoyed being in the water. He was so happy that he could swim without help for the most part. With his certificate, he earned a free swim pass to the pool, which he was excited to have and couldn't wait to use, so we invited some friends to the pool with us and he used it the following week!