floaty madness

Our pond is pure heaven.

The only problem with it is that it has no shallow end—you just dive off a dock. In fact, I’ve never touched the bottom. So the kids have had to learn how to get along in the deep end from the start.

How did they do it? Lots and lots of floaties.

Here Luc models his handy floaty vest thingy that buckles right onto his suit.

(What was he doing, I wonder?)

Sophie’s floaty is built into her suit, too. Then add an inflatable frog ring and/or some swim noodles, and we’re good to go.

Sophie is fearless in the water, always pushing herself to new challenges. Right now she is into practicing putting her head under. Luc is more careful. It took him a while of holding onto me before he felt safe enough to let go. Nowadays, though, he just jumps off the ladder like a pro.

I love how the camera froze the water ripples! It’s like he’s a wizard casting spells….

Below, we have the kids in their colorful floaty gear, and, I know you can’t see anything but a tiny head, but that’s me! In my sunglasses! Yes, I always swim in my sunglasses. It’s a thing.

Anyway, I had a mom say to me the other day that she didn’t want her kids using floaties because she thought her kids wouldn’t learn to swim properly with them. That it might take longer. Like it’s a race. Like floaties are a crutch or something. Like floaties are cheating.

I swear, people need to lighten up. Playing in the water is awesome fun! That’s as far as the thinking on it needs to go.

We swim every single day, and it’s about the best part of every day, too. The confidence and pleasure Sophie and Luc feel from all that experience in the water can only translate into confidence and pleasure in swimming floaty-free, later. But I don’t even care about that. I just want us to have a good time making some lovely memories together. And I want us to get cool, because it’s freaking hot around here lately. Putting up a barrier to those things because of some idea about ‘proper’ swimming is so backasswards, I wanted to shake this woman. Or at least invite her kids over to play in our pond.

I reckon I decided to invoke the Power of the Blog on her ass, instead.

Bottom line: don’t let thoughts about how kids ‘should’ learn something, or ideas about ‘what if they never learn’ something, get in the way of having a good time together. If being together is fun, the rest takes care of itself.

There. I have spoken.

And now, Wizard Luc will cast his swimming spell upon us all….