I only wish that the Linton Camp pool offered swim lessons. Well, they do, but I don't think they have lessons for really small children. Back in the day I used to be a Water Safety Instructor, and I often toy with the idea of becoming qualified in NZ so that I can offer to teach swim lessons on Saturday mornings for Linton Camp. I'd charge less money than the community pool so I bet you'd have quite a few that would be interested. I'd also make some extra spending money! Hmmm, perhaps I should pursue this idea a bit more...
We've tried to consisently take Luca from a young age, so that he develops confidence in the water. You'd be amazed at how many children in NZ can't swim - and because NZ is surrounded by oceans and rivers, there are way too many drownings. On my last placement at Freyberg HS I'd say only about 1/3 of the students could swim 100 meters of front crawl (freestyle). Many primary schools have small outdoor pools for their children to learn how to swim, but due to the high cost of maintaining the pool and all the gov't regulations, many schools have been concreting over the pools. Besides outdoor pools in NZ are really only good for about 1-2 months of the year. The high cost of swimming lessons can be prohibitive to many families, thus not as many children are learning to swim. Oh, and there's the whole pacific island/ maori culture which generally are not known for their swimming abilities...
This weekend we took Wyatt to the pool for the first time. After watching his big brother for the past few months, it was finally his time! He seemed to enjoy it, and Luca helped teach him a few games and pool songs.
After swimming both boys were worn out and fell asleep in the car. Exactly as we had hoped :-)
1 comment:
The boys are beautiful. And I love the photo of you all dressed alike. I use to think that was terrible too! I guess now I'll have to draw the line with Wade and I being twinkies. Funny how your views change once you have kids. :)
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