Aqua Tots

Jackson has never been a fan of the water. 

I suppose he comes by it honestly as his father and I aren't big fans either.  Let's face it, I'd rather be sitting under an umbrella fully clothed with a book, a drink and a bottle of sunscreen than actually putting on a bathing suit and getting in the water.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I'd rather be indoors with the A/C running!  And Drew would rather be at the golf course.  So when Jack never expressed a great interest in the pool, it didn't break our hearts.  And we probably didn't do much to encourage him to feel otherwise.

But that doesn't mean we don't want him to learn how to swim.  Or at least have enough skills to not drown.  And he's only three after all.  His desire to hang out at the pool could very well change as he gets older or starts to hear more about it from his friends.

Enter Aqua Tots.  A swim class at the Indoor Aquatic Center offered through the Lawrence Parks & Rec Department specifically for 3-year olds.  The course description seemed to match Jack's abilities (which are none) pretty well and I figured since he is on the young side of 3 he could retake the class several times before turning 4 if necessary.

Here is the class on day 1.

5 kids to 2 teachers (Eric & Zoe).  Here, Eric is demonstrating 1 of the 3 class rules:  something about always keeping your ears above water so you can hear their instructions.  So far so good.

Then they got in the water.

Almost immediately, Jackson jumped out and ran to me crying.  "Why can't you get in with me?  I don't like it!  I don't want to swim!  I want to go home!"  Tears streaming down his face in full panic mode.

Somehow I managed to convince him to get back in the water and Zoe the angel swooped him up and distracted him enough that before he knew what had happened he was participating in the class.  And he liked it.  Especially the end where they got to wade out to the dinosaur slide and take turns going down.

Dinosaur slide in the distance

Week 2 was almost an exact replica.  Nana & Papa were in town so Nana got to join us at swim class.  Unfortunately, her presence didn't alleviate any of Jack's fears and as soon as they got in the water another tear fest ensued.  Once again, Zoe swooped in and by the end of class he was having a wonderful time.

I had high hopes as we headed to his 3rd class.  When I asked him if he was ready for swim class he replied, "Yeah!  I'm excited!"  And he wasn't kidding.

This time he jumped right in the water and had a wonderful time. 

Working on front floats.

Back floats

Playing "Thunderstorm" - a definite kid favorite as they work on kicking

More kicks - from their belly this time

Learning the freestyle stroke

I didn't get a picture of his favorite activity - the treasure hunt!  The teachers throw rings in the water and the kids have to find them, pick them up with their hands while putting their face in the water and blowing bubbles.  It's brilliant.  They are so focused on "hunting" for their rings that they don't even realize they're putting their heads in the water.

This week, at Jack's request, we even stayed for a few minutes after class so he could watch some of the other lessons that were going on.

Now that we're past the total pre-class melt downs it's actually quite adorable.

Thank goodness for Zoe.  She is just fabulous and I totally credit her with getting Jack to stay in the water and stick it out.

There's only 1 class left in this session, so I still think we'll take it another time or two.  It's fun, it's affordable and it certainly can't hurt. 

Who knows, maybe we'll end up with a little swimmer after all.  And if not, that's okay too.

Yay for Aqua Tots!