Summer and Water Safety

Moving into a new house with an in-ground pool with our three kids ages four and under has caused me some serious anxiety.  It's funny because we travel all around the world and that doesn't bother me at all, but there is something about owning a pool that makes me so nervous!  Matt and I decided swim lessons were a must to help teach our little ones the skills they would need to know for water safety.  I've always said, I don't care if they can shoot a basket or catch a ball, but they HAVE to learn how to swim.  It's a life skill.

I would love it if both boys could learn how to actually swim this summer, but if not, I want them to know what survival skills will help them stay safe around water.  So, we enrolled the boys in swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School.

Both boys started in beginner groups, Dylan was in a Junior 1 and Christopher was in Mini 2, a group lesson he took with Matt to feel more acclimated with the water.

Let's talk about Christopher for a second.  Dylan's been a fish in the water since day one, but Christopher has always stayed by the side of  the pool or only ventured onto the first step of the pool.  He loves putting toys in the water but rarely will he go any farther than his feet.  Of course, this never bothered me because I felt like it was safer.  

However, what would happen if Christopher slipped and fell into the pool and had no skills to help him get up to the top of the water? 

Of course, how was he going to learn these survival skills if he wouldn't even go into the water? 

This is where Goldfish Swim School came in.  At Christopher's first lesson, he and Matt got into the water (which was possibly warmer than bath water) and the teacher incorporated some really fun activities to get them wet.  Through songs, and fun water toys (manipulatives) the kids learn water safety skills without even realizing it... learning through play in the water.

Both boys have already mastered the skills needed to move up into more advanced lesson groups.  We've only been going to Goldfish Swim School for a few months and have seen so much improvement!  

At Dylan's most recent lesson, he actually swam with pulls and kicks and his head under water for the first time.  I was so proud I almost cried.  In fact there have been quite a few times that I've almost cried because I was so proud of the boys.  I asked Dylan why he didn't show his swimming skills to his grandparents, who we had swam with earlier that day, and Dylan answered "I didn't know I knew how to swim".  I love that Goldfish Swim School is challenging and perfecting skills that our kids our capable of doing, but don't realize they can.  Goldfish Swim School has really laid the foundation for water safety that gives me confidence that we will be able to safely enjoy our pool this summer!  

The month of May is water safety month and Goldfish Swim School is giving away one whole year of free swim lessons to one lucky winner who enters their selfie contest on Facebook and Instagram.  Take a "selfie" of your kids around water, or talking about water safety with the hashtags #watersafetyGSS and #goldfishswimschool to enter!

*Thank you Goldfish Swim School for sponsoring this post!