After starting swimming with Puddle Ducks back in October Gabe is now half way through his second block of lessons and I’m so pleased with the progress that he’s making that I really wanted to share a bit more about it with you.
So if you’ve read my first post about Gabe’s swimming experience then you’ll know that he didn’t exactly take to it like the proverbial duck to water. In fact he spent the first two lessons sitting on the side of the pool, crying, sobbing, and wailing while I was in the water trying to encourage him to get in! By the third lesson he stopped crying, and after spending the first part of the lesson on the side he actually got in the water! By week four he was joining in with the whole lesson.
And then, in our last lesson before Christmas (which was week 7) Gabe watched the other children do their underwater swims and when I asked him if he wanted to have a go he surprised us all by saying yes! He went under the water twice in that lesson, and although I still wouldn’t say it was his favourite thing to do he didn’t cry at all.
We went back to our lessons after the Christmas holiday and despite having three weeks off, Gabe was eager to get back in the water. He didn’t go back under water that first week back but he did the week after. And not only his he doing under water swims he is joining in with the whole lesson and really enjoying himself. He likes holding on to the wall and do his monkey walks along, he enjoys doing cowboy rides on my back, and he absolutely loves when they get to go on the giant float!
Of course there are still a few bits he’s not a big fan of, like blowing bubbles in the water, or when he gets splashed by the other children. And occasionally, like last week, he just doesn’t want to do something for no real reason. He is two and a half after all and no-one is going to win an argument with a two and a half year old when they don’t want to do something!
Over all though Gabe is making fantastic progress in his Puddle Ducks lessons and I’m sure by the time we go on holiday in the summer he’s going have no problems playing in the pool with Toby and the rest of the family.
**We received one block of lessons with Puddle Ducks in exchange for sharing our experiences. However, we were so impressed with Gabe’s progress that we are now paying to continue with lessons.
He is doing so well! Two and a half year olds are so strong willed so the fact that he does most of the lesson speaks volumes. Well done to him for going under water too. #BloggerClubUK
Sounds like he is doing a great job. There are always going to be the odd day when they don’t fancy it. To be honest I often feel like this about swimming lessons!!!! Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
That’s such a long way to come for a little boy who hated it so much! I wish in a way that we’d persisted with Max’s lessons, but the lessons were stressing him out and I felt we just needed to get him to enjoy the water. He loves it now, but at coming up to 4, he’s at the stage where they seem to be expected to go in without you, which I know he won’t do. I’m hoping that might change in a few months time and we can get him swimming properly. Ben on the other hand is a little fish! I should really sort out some lessons for him, but it’s hard to find a class that runs on a day when Max is at nursery. Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
Swimming is such an important skill and it really is amazing to see how they progress. I remember seeing our daughter go through each stage – really makes you feel your doing the right thing; and when they progress that little bit more its great to see them smile and share it with you.
Sounds like it’s going really well. We had a painful, moaning year of swimming with N from 9 months old, and it finally clicked. I think N just doesnt’ like the idea of lessons. His progress is painfully slow, but at least he enjoys it now! #sharingthebloglove
We are in a similar situation. We started swimming at around 5 months and Small Boy wasn’t keen. He didn’t dislike it. He just didn’t participate. We stopped then and whenever we tried to go near a pool he started screaming – he had a massive meltdown in Center Parcs which wasn’t fun. He’s two now so we’ve signed up for a class and going to try again. We have too holidays this year and we’d love him to enjoy the pool #SharingTheBlogLove
Hi, swimming is an important skill to learn and sounds like he has come a long way. I’m sure you will be looking forward to he holiday and spending a few hours playing in the pool #SharingtheblogLove
My husband is the one reason my children swim so beautifully. He took them as babies! I couldn’t bare to watch but the class was full of babies all swimming with their eyes open underwater. They went on to swim for their counties. As a poor swimmer I’m so grateful to my husband. It’s great to hear about your son ‘finding his feet’ in the pool. In time it’ll feel completely natural to him and you won’t look back x
Well done! The Tubblet hated swimming and although we’ve had various attempts with swimming lessons, it’s not been as successful as we hoped 🙁
Well done for taking him when he is so young.i think that’s the key with swimming, try to get them used to the water early. I have taught swimming and when they are 6 or 7 it can be really tough to get over bad habits or if they are scared. Swimming is not only a great life skill but fun and can lead to healthy habits. Lovely post. #sharingthebloglove
we did lessons similar to puddle ducks with both my two during my maternity leave. it sounds like he’s doing really well. swimming is so important. I feel bad I haven’t taken my toddler in almost 12 months but she’s always got a bug of some sort!
forgot to add #sharingthebloglove
It sounds like he is doing so well and you are right sometimes you cannot reason with a two and a half year old! #SharingTheBlogLove
I love reading of the swimming success. We took our 3 swimming in the half term holidays for the first time and they all loved it! #sharingthebloglove