Captain Nemo

Hi,
it isn't what you're thinking. I'm not going to write a review of Jules Verne's, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870)"... although it is a classic for good reason. I'm talking about teaching little kids to swim. Captain Nemo is my alias in the pool, among others. I also get called "Miss Marilyn", "Queen of the Pool" and "Swimming Diva" to name a few. Depending on my mood or the age of my student.


I only teach private lesson. One-on-one works best for me and the kids. I do have an adult 'learn to swim class' on Fridays but that's a different topic. When I'm teaching little children it's face-to-face. They trust me when they have my full attention and I can get them to push their personal boundaries farther than even they could imagine. They get their faces wet, head under the water, jump off the edge of the pool, look for treats at the bottom and play crocodile all because they have me right beside them, in their face and promising eternal support for as long as they are in the water with me.


Today I had new students, 3 year old twins, cute, cute, cute. In 40 minutes we went from crying and refusing to get wet, to loving swimming and looking forward to next weeks lesson. "I'm not wearing goggles" turned into a fashion statement that they both kids insisted on making. Riding a styrofoam noodle named "Max" brought giggles. Taking Mr & Mrs. Rubber Duckie for a dip was the best game of fetch ever played. Can you pretend to be an alligator and blow bubbles while walking on your hands in the shallow part of the ramp? You bet if it's fair game to chomp, chomp, chomp up the ramp and flutter kick till your legs give out. Yeah swimming!


You can't start them too young in my opinion and today I won over two new converts to the love of everything water & wet. Captain Nemo strikes again.


xox
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