Making a splash!

While I was on maternity leave, I took Little Man swimming regularly. We completed two Waterbabies classes and really enjoyed our time in the pool. We attended our last Waterbabies class a couple of weeks before I returned to work, and although I couldn’t sign up for another set of classes, I had every intention of continuing our regular trips to the pool. But, I hadn’t accounting for how sick Little Man would be for the first few months after starting in creche. Before I knew it, it had been months since I’d taken Little Man swimming. I tried to practice some of what we had learned whenever I bathed him, but I could see that he was slowly forgetting most of it.

So today, when one of my Mammy friends suggested taking the babies swimming, I jumped at the chance. Despite cutting THREE teeth this weekend, Little Man was actually well today and in great form. So off we went!

The pool that we went to has a baby pool, a learner pool, and a regular pool. I had expected to take Little Man into the regular pool, which is what we did in our Waterbabies lessons, but that wasn’t really an option when we got there. Little Man knew straight away that we were somewhere new, and he looked a bit scared by his surroundings. I decided to start by wading into the baby pool rather than heading for the regular pool. It was just as well I did. Little Man started crying as soon as we got in the water. He clung on to me and didn’t seem at all happy to be there. I hadn’t expected that reaction from him, but I guess in the life of a 17 month old, last July is far too long ago to remember any previous pool experience.

Luckily the pool we went to caters for small children, school children, and families, so there were plenty of toys around. I grabbed a purple pool noodle and started playing with it. The tears stopped and Little Man started to look interested. Soon after that, the other Mammies and their babies arrived and Little Man seemed intrigued to see other babies in the pool. Over the course of the next half hour, he gradually relaxed and even ventured a few steps by himself. Then he spotted a ball floating in the pool and suddenly all fears were forgotten! After all, who has time to be scared when you’ve got a ball to play with?! I’ll have to remember that for next time!