The first day we arrived rather early because I wanted to get Ellie dressed there and give her time to get use to her new surroundings. We got there about 20 minutes early, I got her dressed and we headed out. At Kay's they require all children under 3 to wear two swim pants (not little Swimmers but baby swim pants) so there is limited risk of poop in the pool.
As we were walking around Ellie began chatting with this little kid and his grandma said, "Oh....I think she's....going..." and I looked down and a big puddle was pooled around Ellie's little shoes. Evidently the two swim pants do not stop accidents of the #1 variety. I tried to remain cool, calm and collected but we were in the middle of a lot of people and this was our first day. I just reached into my handy dandy bag and pulled out some wipes and extra shorts (because the wipes weren't doing it) to wipe up the puddle. During this ordeal Ellie was still chatting with the kid and he was still chatting back....oh to be that age again!!! So innocent, so unabashed and fancy free! After the clean up I picked her up and we headed outside to the back area where there are all kinds of interesting things to play with and as I set her down I realized I had a large pee stain on my shirt. Thankfully I heard "Babies" being called out from the pool area and we headed for our lesson.
The first thing you learn is to sit your baby on the edge of the pool and don't let them get in the water until you ask them to get in or bring them in yourself. This way they learn not to just run and jump in the water without supervision. Then we went through a series of songs and motions and Ellie just had a blast - splashing and singing and all that jazz. The lesson ends by everyone sitting on this big Hippo mat that floats and singing, "The more we swim together the happier we'll be," and then everyone cheers. The class consists of
* Bikini Mom - I was shocked to see someone actually wearing a bikini to a children's swim class but it
did happen.
* Hairy dad - Hairy dad has a super little baby that does whatever you make him do and even went
water on the first day of class -- show off. Hairy dad is, well, very hairy with and without
a shirt.
* Pampo's Superstar - This little boy has a large entourage with him at all times - his Nana, Pampo, dad,
aunt, uncles and a few others I have not sorted out yet.
* Cute boy's mom - There is this little boy that is super cute and his mom is nice - I have nothing rude to
say.
* Crying girl - Crying girl is slightly older than Ellie and cries every time the lesson begins. I think this
adds to Ellie's anxiety, however it is very clear that the older kids are more prone to being
afraid and resistant. When she cries Ellie likes to point at her and say "Baby"
* Tiny - this little one is 14 months old and is SUPER tiny - she is very smiley and her mom is nice. Once
again I have nothing rude to say....sorry.
* Ms. Geri - she is the instructor and has the sweetest voice however Ellie does not care for her and any
time she comes near her Ellie cries
We finished our lesson, got changed and headed home with a successful lesson under our belt.
The next day I decided to add a Little Swimmer diaper under her two layers of swim pants to stop any #1 accidents from happening again (so far so good!) and so we were able to get dressed at home and arrived around 5 minutes early to this lesson. I heard the call for babies and we headed for the pool, however this time Ellie was not so excited. She cried when I sat her on the edge of the pool and really resisted getting in. I finally got her in and she just cried. She would do the motions but she was crying it was quite sad, however we pushed through until Ms. Geri tried to hold her and Ellie lost it. That pretty much ended our participation for the day, but we stayed in the water until the lesson was over so Ellie could learn that she wasn't going to get her way by crying. As the Hippo conclusion occurred I thought surely she could sit on the Hippo because I hold her and she is looking directly at me -- but no. I placed her on the hippo and she cried like a maniac so we quiety slipped off to the corner and played with a baby doll will missing arms and one eye. This made her happy however the hippo terrified her?!!? As we walked out one old lady told Pampo's Superstar, "You did so great in the water," and then told Ellie, "You...you I'm not so sure about." I smiled and pushed past her - crazy old people!!
Here are some pics (not of us or our class because pictures are not permitted during the lessons) I found that show pretty much some of what we do:
Sitting on the wall at the beginning of class:
Pretty much how Ellie looked during lessons 2-3
On the third day we arrived about 15 minutes early because I thought that perhaps the rushing Ellie into the lesson was the problem however I was wrong. She played outside with some of the kids and then when she heard Ms. Geri say, "Babies," She immediately began saying, "no, no, no" but we headed to the pool and the crying started instantly. This day was the worst and I was really quite embarrassed because she was acting as if I was trying to drown her. She was clenching my shirt so tight in her hands that I couldnt pry her off! Everyone, by this point, were going under water and learning new things but not us. Ellie and Crying Girl were both off in their respective corners wailing away. Another routine is to place the baby (while you hold them) on a noodle and the top of the noodle has a little sock that looks like a horse on it and you sing, "She'll be coming around the mountain," but Ellie didn't like this today and she cried and refused to hold the noodle. She also, once again, refused to sit on the flippin' hippo, and so we went off to our corner but the one eyed baby was missing so we just sat there and she cried - loudly. I was rather annoyed because I had a paper due today that I had been working on all day but had taken a break to bring her to the lesson. My paper was due at 11 pm and it was now 7 pm and I was wasting my time on these shenanigans. I took her out of the pool and we headed home - I needed some distance from her and to reevaluate this lesson thing.
After much thought and deliberation I came up with a new plan - the next day we headed to the bathtub which she has hated as of late. I filled it up, put her in and we practiced (our pool was being cleaned and some repairs were being done so we didnt get to practice there). We sang the songs, she floated on her back, and we did the motions. I was really hoping this would translate into success later and... it did!!! This lesson went very well!! Justin was able to go with us, perhaps she was showing off for dada, but whatever it was definitely worked!! She went under water several times, floated on her back, she rode the noodle horse and even sat on the hippo!! I was ecstatic!!
Maybe I will apply for a job at Kay's next summer!
