Our children are bottom-feeders, feeling for a puck in the deep end. Floridian in fuchsia suits, they surface fish-eyed in goggles, gasp, and snort blue water. We sit on the sidelines, barefoot, tapping chlorinated puddles. Pass comments back and forth like cards. In my mind we are pressing the soles of our feet together. I never get my wish. The lesson is always over before I drag you to the deck, cup one hand under your chin, pinch your nose, and breathe myself into your lungs. Our children appear in garish towels, unrelated, though clearly the same species: purple around the gills, hair sleek as sealskin. Whatever happens they will all know how to swim. It is our job to see that nothing does happen. In the parking lot after balmy showers, blowfish bobbing around us in parkas, mouths steaming, you stretch, and mention how you spent the week knocking down a concrete wall. With your head? I wonder out loud. And later, what it takes to get through.
——————————————————————————– 3rd Prize, Poem of the Year Contest 2003 Arc 51, Winter 2003
Diving Lessons Learn to Swim Swimming Lessons Teach Baby to Swim
Water makes us very afraid when we know how easily a baby could drown. Today we are going to tell you how to teach your baby to swim from when he is very small. They will start to have confidence in the water and you will feel much more secure and calm.
Forget the floats. If you bought them to make them feel safer in the water, the experts do not recommend them. Not only can it give them a false sense of security, but they will also adopt an incorrect way of staying afloat, as it makes them take a vertical position in the water when they need to be able to stand horizontally. If you are already used to swimming with them, it will be difficult to take them off. If you want your child to learn to swim more easily, try these water games:
