On Monday I experienced one of those heart swelling; emotional; tearful; amazing moments.
One of those moments where you feel like you might explode with pride.
On Monday the wee girl swam; on her own. No hands holding her or supporting her. No hands guiding her. Nothing!
I rarely took the boys swimming when they were tiny, which is something I regret. Working, all but, full time, I simply didn’t have the opportunity to take them. No mummy and baby swimming classes for them, only the odd visit to a pool; with friends or on holiday, until they were old enough to take lessons with their nursery class.
So when we moved to the States, as soon as the wee girl was six months old, I signed up for infant swim classes. She loved the water right from the start. As soon as she turned eighteen months, she moved up into the toddler class. She got her own bubble (strange flotation device, strapped around their middle with a ‘bubble’ on their back, required at our YMCA!) and seemed to enjoy it even more. She gained confidence by the week, starting to show me where she wanted to go, spending much of the lesson jumping in: one, doo, dee, JUMP!
I’ve been saying for few weeks that she wasn’t far off swimming independently, but I was still rather taken aback on Monday when after her first jump into the pool she said again! and swam out of my arms and back to the side of the pool… It was only a couple of feet, so I thought it was probably a fluke. But then she decided she wanted to jump in at the steps; half a width away.
And swam to them!
Now, my daughter is nothing if not a show off; and Monday was no exception. She was comical. No dainty doggy paddle for her! Oh no, we had full on splashing and spinning and giggling. Huge grins and lots of yay! She swam all over the pool and she was inordinately pleased with herself.
I actually thought I might cry, I was so unbelievably proud of her.
There are several mums in the class who I have known since we first arrived in the US. Our babies have grown into toddlers together. The collective pride in one of the babies taking the big step to solo swimming was very special, and I feel very lucky to have shared the moment with them. It is a day I will never forget.
Of course, deciding to swim wasn’t enough for my little girl. She also decided five minutes before the end of class that she’d had enough: climbed out of the pool by herself (with me chasing after), walked over to our towels, picked them up, shouted ba-bye and strode off towards the changing rooms leaving a trail of amused parents behind her!
That’s my girl :)
Lovely, will she be swimming for Team Scotland or Team US though?
He he! Scotland of course :)
Now that’s a GREAT melt your heart moment. WOW! Loved reading it, I read it twice. So sweet what a great moment to remember. I love my swimming lessons with both my two that I started both at a very young 5 weeks. I can’t imagine when Buba starts to swim on his own, I definitely will feel like you, emotional and proud!!! AMAZING post to share. Thank you so much for linking up with me and the blog love. ;)
It was such an amazing moment :) Thanks for hosting xx
Well done, and really rather spooky that we were having our own pool revelation on Monday too! #SSAA
Thank you! I loved your post – such wonderful moments :)
Aww! Clever girl! I’m not surprised you were bursting with pride!
Thank you – I literally thought I might explode!
Oh, wow! That is just brilliant! I don’t take my two swimming much at all – the logistics of going with the pair of them just puts me off to be honest, but that is just so lovely x
Thank you! I could not have been prouder :) I’m lucky that I can take her on her own when the boys are in school, I wouldn’t be able to do it otherwise.
Oh wow Sara what an amazing post. You must have been beside yourself! How amazing, she is one clever little lady :)
I really was!
This is lovely! Such a proud moment for you. I should really get Moo into swimming classes, I just keep forgetting to book them!
Thank you! I was thrilled :) It’s a great thing to do with them x
What a super milestone she has reached and so you should be super proud of her! Brilliant! #MagicMoments
Thank you! We were there again today, and she was all over the place. It was amazing to watch :)
Makes all those lessons worth it x
It does, not quite 23mo and happily swimming, I’m amazed!
That is amazing! No wonder you are proud :D
Thank you! I am just a little bit (a lot!) proud of her :)
Wow, congratulations! If that happened to my little T, I’d be beaming with pride too! :) T loves the water and have been having swimming lessons too (though not as young as yours). But she still swims with her rubber rings on her arms. #MagicMoments.
Thank you! She still has her ‘bubble’ but she doesn’t need me anymore :)
awww Sara thats amazing!! bless here what an amazing achievement! x
thank you for sharing and linking up with #magicMoments x
Thanks Jaime, and thanks for hosting x
That’s fantastic, what an amazing moment. Don’t they always catch us off guard when we least expect it. I love how she left the pool, a real diva moment lol.
Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
x
Thank you – it was amazing. And, she is definitely a diva!
Oh that’s lovely! I’ve been taking Potato swimming since he was about 5 months and he loves it. I’ve blogged before about how important I feel it is to learn to swim young. I can’t wait for Potato to take those first few strokes on his own. Well done to your wee girl xx
I agree, it’s so important. I wasn’t able to take the boys when they were this young, so I’ve loved taking the wee girl. Seeing her leave go of my hand and go it alone was amazing.
Congratulations little one! You must be so proud… seeing them make those little steps towards independence is amazing. Mel #MagicMoments
It was quite a moment!