Saturday, July 11, 2009

Our Little Swimmers!

The one constant activity in our lives is Infant Aquatics Survival Swimming Classes. Benny began swimming in June 2007 at nearly age 3; Desty began swimming in September of the same year, and she was a very teeny near 2-year-old.

Both kiddos LOVE swimming, the confidence and freedom that comes with knowing how to be safe while having a blast in the water! Mom and Dad love the comfort of knowing we have done everything we can to make them comfortable, safe and confident in water. The bottom line is that Benny and Desty have a much better chance of surviving the typical water accident than if they were dependent on floaties, an adult or the like. If these kids fell in, they'd automatically roll over, and look for an edge. No swim suit necessary - they've floated in their snow coats and boots!

No, I'm not overly confident - adult supervision is ALWAYS a must, but in an accident, time is the worst enemy. Give kids as many tools as possible to prevent a slip into a pool, a pond, whatever, from turning into an terrible accident. No guarantee...but a sure better chance. Isn't it like teaching a teen to drive safely, or preparing a pre-teen/teen about the pressuures/dangers of sex? Only, the joy and dangers of water come long before driving and hormones! ;)

Now watch our fishies go!



Of course Benny can doggy-paddle and he just moved into Stroke class, but they can both Swim, Float, Swim, which is key to survival. Here in these clips, the kids are focused on swimming, but they can relax and float for a loooooooong time.

3 comments:

T. and the MT Pug Pack said...

Those are such cool videos. How did you get the under water shots?? I totally agree with you that any tools we can give our kids to help them be more safe are very valuable indeed. Benny and Destiny are awesome kids...and of course that's because they have awesome parents!

Vanessa said...

That is awesome!! It is such a priceless skill for them to learn.

Destiny Ann said...

T -

The owner asked if she could use Desty for advertising the skill level of a 3-yr-old, and so these underwater clips were a perk! Benny isn't going to be in the advertizing, but they let him jump in and shot him for me anyway :-))
Her husband has this amazing underwater camera, he was dressed like a scuba diver. Very neat!
I watch Desty's face underwater, and she looks like an angel!!
We have made so many sacrifices for the kids to do this, and the owner has really enabled us to be able to afford it.............It has paid off.

It all began when I realized that if Benny fell in water, I'm not fast enough to save him...I'd need time, even a couple minutes to jump wherever & push him up, or get help. The thought of him panicking and being scared...I can't bare. This was before I took Desty out alone. I looked at all the typical lessons, but found they didn't teach enough about swimming, they were more play. I finally found this program. The week before Benny began, Benny fell into a creek. Luckily, it was a still water area, and only ~2ft, and Dustin pulled him out AND I only heard the splash and scream and caught a wet running boy. IIIII was traumatized, and it couldn't have ben more clear that my frantic quest for swim lessons was mother's instinct.

TX U GUYS!!