A methodology for madness.

So I figured this year I must get my boys swimming.  

I take my kids to this great swimming school.  It is truly fabulous or as they say here, awesome.  They do one-on-one teaching, the lessons are a very focused 20 minutes... and they charge over a dollar a minute! So I waited till the schools broke up for summer and started with my 7 year old.  He had one lesson every weekday for 4 weeks and now he swims confidently.  He'll jump in the pool at a moments notice, he does underwater cartwheels and he has survived a July 4th pool party without a life preserver.  Job done.

I had expected that the younger guy would be more tricky as he won't wear a life preserver and is fully prepared to fight to the death to preserve his right to avoid all forms of safety device.  I hadn't quite expected the true level of difficulty though.  His swimming lessons are proving to be the most expensive foot spa sessions outside of Beverly Hills.  Especially today - I've nothing to report as there were no screams, no tantrums, just splashing and playing with toys.  Philip is trying to get him to hum as a way of ensuring his mouth is shut when he gets dunked under the water.  Telling my boy to close his mouth does not have the desired effect, he only needs to be dunked once to learn a new response.  Tell him to close his mouth in a swimming pool and he'll scream in a way that you're certain he's swearing at you, whilst he squeezes your throat in a deadly arm lock... Hummmmm! Hummmmmm! Hummmmmm!

I'm giving it till Friday to decide whether this will continue next week... if not I'm buying membership of the LA Zoo - he can learn by watching the seals!  My little guy loves all wildlife, especially if it hasn't realized the threatening look he's giving....