Swimming Lessons

Mr. Sneaky Pants has been dragged along to his big sister's swimming lessons his whole entire life.  It's never gone well.  Even as an infant, he was incredibly restless and squirmy the entire time we waited for Ya Ya to finish swimming.  To make matters worse, the pool area, no matter where the swimming lessons took place, was always hot and humid, an oppressive atmosphere that would bring out the worst in any sweaty little one.

There were years, when he was a toddler and The Banana was an infant that I would do just about ANYTHING to pawn off the responsibility of swimming lessons on my husband; I so wanted to avoid having to take all three with me to the university pool.  It was so incredibly exhausting.  

However, Mr. SP loves the water.  A big part of the problem was that SHE got to take swimming lessons and HE didn't.  The rule at the university pool is that you have to be five to take lessons by yourself.  I couldn't sign him up for parent/child swimming lessons because I couldn't have two kids in the water with me at the same time.  Mr. Sneaky Pants has been begging, and begging and begging to take swimming lessons.  He just loves to swim, and was desperate to learn how to do it for real, himself.

So, I LIED.  That's right.  When it came time for registration for fall swimming lessons at the university, I swallowed the lump in my throat and lied about Mr. Sneaky Pants' birthdate, making him look a year older than he really is.  I can get away with this because he is super tall for his age, and people often mistake his age for two years older than he really is (a major drawback generally, since his behavior really matches his true age).  

On Saturday, Mr. Sneaky Pants began swimming lessons.  He was so thrilled.  So excited to be in the water and not sitting on the bench.  So excited to be included.  So excited to do underwater bobs and all the fun games his teacher had planned.  There was no fear of the water, of course.  It was no problem to fully submerge his head underwater, of course. He was a great listener.  

He's been talking nonstop about swimming lessons  and can't wait for next Saturday.   The Banana, on the other hand, can't wait until SHE'S big enough for lessons.  She asks about that daily.