Swim, Swim, Swim

When my oldest son was 5 I signed him up for swim lessons. Ian really enjoyed swimming but I was disappointed with his progress in class. They had a limited amount of room and with all the kids there was a lot of time spent just waiting for his turn. One of the other moms suggested I sign him up for the summer swim team at my community pool. I took her advice and thus began our swim team journey. That summer I happily took my child to the pool every morning and watched in amazement as he grew from a "just get to the other side" kind of swimmer into a kid who knew how to swim. This summer will be Ian's 9th year of swimming competitively. We went from summer teams to year-round swimming long ago. Now all three boys swim. I have to say I love this sport. My boys are learning such great life lessons from this sport. It takes hard work and determination, discipline, time management, commitment and perseverence to succeed. As a family we spend a huge amount of time at the pool. My sons have learned to relate to others in ways they might not in other sports. I've always felt that through this sport they have gained lots of moms and dads. We have met such great families and created so many nice friendships. They are learning to deal with success and failure. Its not easy to do well then turn around and console a friend who didn't do so well. Conversely its been tough learning how to lose gracefully. My sons aren't perfect angels, nor are they perfect swimmers but I know that they have profited from the experience.