We had a late start to the day, and didn’t get to the pool until late in the afternoon. We try to get there several times a week, sometimes for the water aerobics class and other times just to swim laps.
I turns out that today was swimming lessons day. For the five and under crowd. At least, they were the first group. It comprised of three young girls and apparently the first time for all of them. One girl took to the class like a fish to water. She was eager o get in the water and get going.
The other two girls, not so much. There is a long ramp to allow swimmers to enter the pool along a slight incline, easing their entry into the pool. One little girl stopped at the top of the incline and refused to go any further. She just wouldn’t go any further. Her mother took her by the hand and walked along with her, just far enough for the girl to get her feet wet. Then the mother let go of the girl’s hand and left the pool area. At which point, the little girl started crying and calling after her mother.
Another little girl wouldn’t even enter the pool area. Her mother was holding the door open and the little girl walked up to the door, then bolted away. Oddly enough, Sirocco does the exact same thing. This happened several times until the girl’s father came in with her. But no amount of coaxing would get her near the water. Her parents left too, but the girl didn’t have a fit. She just climbed up on one of the chairs and watched the activity in the pool.
The first girl, in the meantime, was having a blast. She enjoyed being in the water, and kicking like crazy, making a big splash.
Toward the end of the class, the second girl’s mother came in. Her daughter hadn’t moved from her spot on the ramp, clutching the railing. The mother had the brilliant idea of getting the first girl to tell the second girl how much fun she was having. This got the second girl to at least let go of the railing and take a few more steps into the pool. Even the girl sitting on the chair got ff the chair and took some tentative steps into the pool.
All the parents came and retrieved their children at the end of class. It was the first girl’s turn to have a crying fit. She was having so much fun she didn’t want to leave.
Another class came in after the first one, older kids around eight or ten. They were all excited about the class and eager to go. We had to make our way past them on our way out of the pool as they were practicing kicking on the side of the pool. It’s amazing how much water can be displaced by over-eager kids getting to splash as much as they want. Somehow his needs to be harnessed as an energy source. It would solve the world’s energy problems for centuries to come.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum