Aquakid

Thompson has always loved the water. For instance, when he was just a tyke, we really had to keep an eye on him down the shore, because he would take any opportunity to head for the waves. Or for a girl in a bikini - but that'll be the subject of another post.

At any rate - Thompson and the water have always been natural together. He loves the pool in the summer and the ocean and the lake. He loves his bath - much more than a shower. Still, up until last week, he never really had any formal swimming lessons.

Lisa felt he was definitely ready though, especially after he did so well without his floatie wetsuit in Mom Mom & Pop Pop's pool last summer. So, she signed him up for swim lessons at the high school. He went from being a little nervous ("I'm going to wear this swimsuit? Where's my wetsuit? Can I touch the bottom?") to asking when he can go back for more lessons.

To the right, you can see Thompson with one of his coaches. Here in West Irondequoit, there is a swim club called The Gators. It is mostly made up of middle school and high school swim team kids. Many of these swimmers have been swimming competitvely since they were younger than Tug. The older kids dedicate their time to teach the younger ones, two weeks at a time, half an hour per night. And the little kids have a blast; splashing around in the pool and looking up to the older kids, some of whom they might know from the neighborhood.

When we first moved to West Irondequoit, signing Choddie up for swimming lessons was one of the first things that we did. And it really felt like a tradition taking Thompson to lessons last week. West Irondequoit is such a terrific place to raise our boys and we are still very happy to live here. Taking Thompson to swimming lessons, and seeing that the high school swim coach (the guy who runs The Gators and the swimming lessons) lost about fifty pounds, and seeing neighbors & Tug's friends from school, and even seeing the cranky lady that seems to show up at every sports/school function, just reinforces that feeling of "home."

Thompson did a great job. By the end of the first week, he was jumping off the "high dive" without any assist from The Coach. Even though the water was cold, even though Thompson walked kinda funny with sweat pants pulled over his swim suit at the end of his lessons, he still ahd a blast, learned a little something and wondered when he was going back for more lessons.



Lisa says she has a plan in mind for when he's going to next attend Gators' swimming school. I question not her infinite wisdom.