Swimming For My Bro

Today was one of those days that in advance you look at and think

How an earth am I going to make it through to the end

And if I do make it through to the end,what shape will I be in and will I still be alive or just a walking talking zombie.

I had to fetch Chipmunk from school at 3.15,then get Sharky to the doctors at 3.50,then get Chipmunk to the turning on of the village lights at 4.30,then swimming at 5.30.It seemed impossible at the worst and mega stressy at the least.

Well hey ho I managed it (had a lot of help from my mum and dad,thankfully) and was pretty exhausted that night but we did make it and the point of this post is to say wow at Chipmunks swimming.

As you may well imagine by the time we got to the swim lesson everybody was working on overdrive.

The day was bitterly cold,we had been blown all over the place by a very strong November wind that was causing havoc in some parts of the country,we had been in and out cars that much that we were almost dizzy and then you enter the swimming baths... the hot,humid swimming baths.

You walk through those doors and the heat and the overpowering smell of chlorine hits you,you go from being cold to being hot in under ten seconds,it always gets to me.

The lights are dazzling,the noise echoes around you,the siren to signal the wave machine starting blares out,children are running everywhere,the tiles are slippery and therefore a hazard for not so steady kids to walk upon ~ total sensory overload!

We made it to the poolside (how did that ever happen) in time and as the teacher was busy giving forms out she instructed the children to start to swim widths across the pool.

Now we had got a guest observer,Sharky had come with us as I wanted to keep him close after his blood test earlier that evening and the crux of this story is Chipmunk swam for Sharky.

Up and down he swam and he was using his arms!So lovely to see him using his arms and he was using both arms!

He did better swimming unguided than he did usually throughout his lessons!

It made me wonder why I pay for lessons and why I don't just bring him to a pool and say swim!

To be honest I can see why I bring him to lessons,the teachers are great,the structure of it means I make the push and he does swim once a week and infact swim lessons are cheaper than me taking him as I would have to pay for me and him to swim and that would bump the price up no end.

Sharky was impressed and my mum and I were flabbergasted but so,so pleased and proud of young Chipmunk.

After Christmas he has been put up to the next stage classes,stage three,so there is improvement.It has taken him 18 months to move from stage one to stage two classes but only a term to move from stage two to stage three classes.

He's on his way to be a swimmer!One day this little chap of mine will swim competently and won't it be worth the wait when that day comes.