Stella Passed Her Swim Test

Living in Arizona most people have a pool and unfortunately each year there are reports of child drownings.  Because we are one of those who have a pool, I knew for  sure that we were going to put Stella into swim lessons as soon as we could  I ntalking to people, there was particular type of swim lessons that people talked so highly about, ISR.  This particular type of lessons teaches children to float and swim at a very young age.  As our friends described it, I thought this was awesome until the described the last part.  At the end of the lessons, they take the child, fully clothed, and toss them in the pool to see if they can float.  Crazy, right?  I agreed to do the swim lessons under the condition that I wouldn't have to watch the test at the end.  Well, we've come to the end.

For the last five weeks, everyday, the swim instructor has come to our house to teach Stella how to float.  At the first lesson, Stella's teacher warned me that for the most part the kids usually cried through the lessons, so I prepared myself.  But not Stella, she enjoyed every minute... of the first week.

 But then the second week came and Stella hated swim lessons.  She screamed a fought it.  But thankfully that only lasted about a week.  For the next two weeks, she learned to float and then to roll. This week was testing week, the week I originally couldn't bear to watch.  However, as we got to this week, I was no longer scared to watch her test, rather I was excited to see what she could do.   We started on Monday with light summer clothes, yesterday was pajamas, and today was full winter clothes.

 I can not believe how well she did.  I can honestly say, that the money and time that we have spent doing swim lesson have hands down been best that we have ever spent.  Obviously, I would never leave Stella alone by the pool but I now have a better peace of mind with her around water.  For now, my nine month old can roll into a float all on her own.  In April, we will begin the process all over again as she learns to swim.