Swimming was never a strong ability in me, as people would often expect it would be, being that I gre up walking distance from the Coney Island beaches. My mom did enroll me in swim classes at the Y when I was a little boy, but I remember missing the last lesson, which was probably the most important one: how to tread water, i.e. how to survive in a pool of water greater than 5 feet. Ironically, I think I missed the last lesson because we left for a tropical family vacation where I couldn't go in the water because I missed the last lesson.
I know swimming is a very important skill, so I'm determined to make sure my offspring pick this skill up when they're young. Luckily, Auntie's got a big pool, and a whole family of strong swimmers. So while Mommy and Daddy went on a tropical vacation, Baby stayed with pool-equipped family, and Auntie and Uncle were able to introduce Baby to a body of water bigger than his bathtub.
When Baby becomes "Young Child," Daddy (and maybe Mommy) will enroll in Family Swim Classes, so we can all learn to swim at the same time, like those dolphin families I see on those nature shows. At least, that was my intention. After some research I found there seems to be no such thing as "Family Swim Classes;" there are classes for either the child or the parent, but not both. That's probably better off, so my child won't embarrass me when I'm still learning to tread water and he starts taking laps around me. The closest thing I came across was at the New York Y, and although they call it "Parent/Child Swim Classes," it's actually about getting the child comfortable in the water, and at the same time getting the parent comfortable about their child getting comfortable in the water.
I found a couple of interesting sites: InfantSwim.com, and InfantAquatics.com, that both promote "survival swimming," for infants from 6 months of age. I had no idea a baby could swim before they could walk, but check this link out for some pretty amazing pictures and a must-see video at this link. And I thought dolphins were smart.
For now, I'll probably just get some water wings or something similar for Baby, since the closest he's going to get to water is usually his bathtub, or the garden hose.
