I’m starting to get a complex about swimming lessons

[bisous]

My kids live in Southern California. I was a competitive swimmer and lived in a pool growing up. My kids are terrible swimmers. I’m posting here because I don’t even want to talk about why. Everyone has an idea but I’m tired of explaining why even though x, y, and z may have worked perfectly well for their kids, it doesn’t work for mine because I’ve already tried it! My discouragement is starting to be noticeable to my kids and that certainly isn’t helpful. I’ve got to get over it but I’m just so frustrated! I want to just have a good cry over it, spend the next two weeks NOT focusing on it and then give it a go again, which sentiment makes me feel guilty about failing them again. It’s a stupid spiral. It’s a beautiful day and my kids are watching a movie in the middle of the day while I try to plot our course forward. Argh!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I know this is BP but are they capable of being in the water and just splashing about? Standing in the shallow playing catch?

[bisous]

I know this is BP but are they capable of being in the water and just splashing about? Standing in the shallow playing catch?

They do. They just don’t progress like they “should” according to this board and all my friends. And I’m just getting emotional thinking about it. I should mention, DS3 is now more proficient than DS2 because when he spends time in water he actually does kind of “figure out” swimming. But DS2 and DD aren’t getting any better. (Hallelujah DS1 is a proficient swimmer!)

[jgenie]

I know it’s tough but forget about how everyone else is doing. Take your kids to the pool and let them have fun. You want them to want to go to the pool. Revisit the swimming proficiency at some point in the future.

[cckwmh]

i know this is a BP, but I can totally relate. DD1 is an amazing swimmer, swims competitively and DD2 is not progressing AT ALL. To the point I stopped paying and pushing lessons because all I was doing was provoking fear and anxiety, ( hers and mine). She is spending the summer splashing in the shallow end where she can stand and we are watching her like a hawk. She uses the sprinkler for fun during the designated times we can run it with our water ban. in the fall i will try lessons again, different place, hopefully different results. fingers crossed for you.

[PZMommy]

I feel your pain. I’m a good swimmer and have been swimming since I was a toddler. My kids like to go to the pool and play around, but they can’t swim. We’ve tried lessons, and my oldest just doesn’t have the right coordination, and my youngest just doesn’t care to listen. He actually got kicked out of the swim lessons at the YMCA, because he hated waiting for his turn, and just kept jumping in requiring the lifeguard to go in and get him several times. We don’t have a pool, and really only go to the pool if we are at a hotel (like once a year), so they don’t get a lot of practice either. They like to “swim” with pool noodles, and can get from one end of a pool to the other kicking and holding on to the noodles, but can’t do it without. I try to not get frustrated, but it is hard to keep my cool when it seems like everyone else knows how to swim.

[DualvansMommy]

OP, it can be quite frustrating but honestly if you kids can stand in the water safely and splash or swim with assistance (noodles for example) I revisit it another time. But I think it must feel doubly more frustrating for you being in Southern California where swimming pools are probably more common, therefore seeing kids who can swim at more of an ease. It doesn't sound like you're at the pool daily? it is much harder to become "better" at something without that daily exposure, but I just wanted to him in though cuz I kind of get your frustration. I'm a swimmer through and through and keep seeing half of kids DS2 age swimming without their puddle jumpers while DS2 is still in his. We have told him this is the last summer to be wearing his Puddle jumper, simple because at 48lbs, he is nearing the max weight of wearing one!

[hbridge]

With LOTS of time in the water, it will come! It can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you are a "water" family. DC was in the water every day all summer long from 9months on, swimming finally clicked at age 5 1/2. There was plenty of incentive since DC wanted to join the neighbors on the swim team, it was the coordination that took time! It took another year for DC to be comfortable in the "diving well" and another year after that to figure out how to swim comfortably in a lake...

The key is time in the water... Not with lessons necessarily, but just playing around and experimenting. They will get there!

Oh, and we went with no flotation in the water, EVER. A pool noodle was fine, but no life jackets or floaties that attached to the child when they were IN the water. However, we required them on pool decks and on the docks. People thought we were nuts, but we wanted DC to know that if they fell in, they would sink...

[trcy]

With LOTS of time in the water, it will come! It can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you are a "water" family. DC was in the water every day all summer long from 9months on, swimming finally clicked at age 5 1/2. There was plenty of incentive since DC wanted to join the neighbors on the swim team, it was the coordination that took time! It took another year for DC to be comfortable in the "diving well" and another year after that to figure out how to swim comfortably in a lake...

The key is time in the water... Not with lessons necessarily, but just playing around and experimenting. They will get there!

Oh, and we went with no flotation in the water, EVER. A pool noodle was fine, but no life jackets or floaties that attached to the child when they were IN the water. However, we required them on pool decks and on the docks. People thought we were nuts, but we wanted DC to know that if they fell in, they would sink...

Regarding your last paragraph, this was our pediatrician's exact advice. Said kids get a false sense of security when the have floaty things on in the pool.

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[KpbS]

Aww, I'm sorry! Do they wear goggles? I'm a big proponent of goggles as in encourages kids to get their faces wet and practice their breathing. Your DD is still young--they will get it! I'm sorry it's frustrating and disappointing. I say just go and have a good time. Maybe you guys can continue to swim in the fall since you live in a warm climate. The more "practice time" they get in the water the better.