Okay, this is going to be a story about Mikayla’s swimming lessons, but first, I have to show you the most important development in her life lately!
Yup. She finally lost her first tooth! Hooray! (Mostly hooray! for the fact that the tooth that’s been flopping around in her head for two weeks is finally gone! Gross!) LOL.
Okay on with the story…and yes, this is me flinging open Gramma’s Brag Book with a resounding BANG! Let the bragging begin!
My five-year-old granddaughter, Mikayla, is taking her first swimming lessons at the local aquatics center. Our family has always been water-oriented. We go to the beach, lake or pool regularly. And so, our kids need to be able to swim. It’s important.
So, Mikayla’s Grandpa D and Gramma D paid for beginner swimming lesson.
Mikayla was a happy little fishy!
So, here is the hilarious story of Mikayla’s graduation through three classes…all in two weeks!
The first week she went, she was in P1 (Pre-school 1) which is where you start. P1 is classified as “completely assisted to get the kids used to the water”. The instructors arrive and the kids sit on the edge of the pool. Most of the kids are being brave and dipping their pinkie toe in the water. Mikayla shoots out into the pool, almost on top of one of the instructors, and swims to the instructor saying “watch this!”.
So, at the end of the class, the instructor pulls my daughter aside.
Instructor: “We’re going to be bumping Mikayla up. She’s a little too advanced for this class.”
Kelly: “Okay. That makes sense. So when does the P2 class meet?”
Instructor: “Ummmmmm, no. Actually we’re gonna be bumping her right on through P2 up to P3. P2 is 90% assisted and the 10% that’s non-assisted is having them hold on to the side and see if we can get them to put their face in the water…”
Kelly: “Okay. I see what you mean. When does P3 meet?”
Go little fishy!
So Day 2 of the first week rolls around and they go to the P3 class. In this class, the kids are supposed to hold onto the boogie board and try to kick their way down the pool with the instructor in front holding it steady. Before they even got her a boogie board, Mikayla had swam (swum?) to the other end of the pool and back because she thought it was a race. (My granddaughter is nothing if not competitive.) When they made her use the boogie board, it was more of a hinderance to her than a help. She kept falling off of it.
The next week in P3, they started teaching the kids backstroke. Some of these kids still aren’t great at putting their faces under water so this was a little scary for them. But Mikayla patiently waited her turn (and let me tell you that took several conversations with mom about Waiting Your Turn and Being Polite and Doing What You’re Told — all virtually impossible for my headstrong little Kayla-girl particularly special talents of my granddaughter’s!).
So the kids are taking turns on their backs while the instructors hold them up in the water and get splashed like crazy from all the flailing arms and legs. Mikayla’s turn comes. You guessed it. She’s half way to the other end of the pool before the instructor can catch up with her.
Instructor: “Okay, we’re gonna bump Mikayla up to P4 which is the last pre-school level.”
Kelly (laughing, I’m sure): “Okay, I can see that. What time does the P4 class meet?”
Go little fishy!
The P4 class isn’t a bad fit for her. She can stay under water longer than the other kids, she keeps her feet under water when kicking and a lot of the kids haven’t gotten that yet. But she’s not so good at doing the head-turning thingie in the American Crawl yet.
But still, she just wants to go faster, learn more, swim more. She loves it!
Kelly says about the only thing holding her in check is….she can’t touch the bottom in any part of this pool. So she pretty much has to do what the instructor tells her because when she’s being taught something new, she’s dependent on him to get her to the end of the pool and back. Pretty strong incentive, I’d say.
Her next class starts in a few weeks. She’s graduating up to Youth 1 class which starts later this month. It’s for 6-year-old and she’s not six until the end of February, but they’ve decided they will put her in it anyway. I think it’s a smart move. They sure don’t want Miss Mikayla to get bored!
Just to help you understand Mikayla’s deep affinity for the water you should know that she’s been swimming really well for about three years now because she spends a lot of time at pools and lakes. The pool at the apartment complex my daughter and her husband just moved from was right outside her bedroom window, so she was always begging to go to the pool. Plus, water play is a great way to tire a kid out for naptime!
Her dad and his family have a lot of kayaks and she’s to the point where she can already man her own kayak. Her dad, Thomas, says when he puts her into her kayak, by the time he gets in his, she’s almost half way out to the middle of the lake.
So folks, be watching the 2024 olympics. And be paying particular attention to the water sports…
