Back to Swimming Class with Mr. Reed

January 18, 20112

Graduation from Aquatots!

June 2, 2011

Hudson, today you graduated from your swim class at Emler Swim School. You were in the aquatots level and now you can move up. You got a ribbon and a t-shirt. Daddy and I are so very proud of you. I wish I could put the video I took of you on this page. You can swim for 10 seconds under water. You swim almost half the length of the pool. This is amazing for a kid who just turned 3. I am so proud of you. Hudson, you know no fear. You are one fearless little man. You just jump right in the pool and you always have. You have never had fear of water. I will say, you had one class where you were a little scared, but that is only because you are so aware and so smart Hudson. You knew the water was deep and that your teacher, Mr. Reed, was going to make you put your eyes down and swim. You knew that you couldn't touch the ground, but this is a great thing for you to learn. You didn't want to go to swim class that morning, but I told you that swim class was a rite of passage. I told you that I had to learn to swim and so did Daddy - you had no choice and this is one thing that you had to learn. I also told you that you could be like a fish and we could have under water swimming races when you learned to swim. This got you excited. You quickly got over that one fearful day. I told daddy that it was almost nice to see a little fear in you because you will do just about anything.

We read the Froggy books by Jack London. You think Froggy is so funny and he is! There is one called "Froggy Learns to Swim." In the book, Froggy is scared to swim and he tells his mamma that he can't swim. She tells him that's nonsense and that frogs are natural born swimmers. She teaches him to swim and uses a phrase called "Bubble bubble, toot toot, chicken, airplane, soldier." It's so sweet. I refer to froggy a lot and tell you that you will learn to swim just like froggy.

You are going to be a great swimmer! I know it. You already are and you are 3. You are a natural born swimmer Hudson.

I love you my little froggy, Mamma


You wear this swim shirt to every class. It is so precious. You are so handsome my love.

Swimming Class at Emler

April 19, 2011 - May 3, 2011

Hudson,

You took a wonderful class at Emler Swim School. You loved class and you loved your teacher, Mr. Reed (in pictures). Plus, you were an awesome swimmer! By the end of the semester, you were swimming for 10 seconds to the middle of the pool. Pretty amazing for 3! You have no fear. Actually, there was one day you were scared. It was about the 3rd class. You figured out quickly that there was a deep end, and you began to understand that you can't stand in the deep water and that you can go under. You kept saying, "I don't want to jump in the deep water." Your awareness of the depth of the water made you frightened. This was actually a good thing. Before this class, you would just jump in anywhere. However, you got over that fearful day and you would jump right in and swim.

The teachers are great at Emler. They basically throw you in and make you swim. They teach you to keep your eyes down in the water, which is really important when you are learning to swim and learning breathe control. It's kind of like golf - keep your eyes and your head down. You had the sweetest boys in your class - Hank, Will and Balthazar. You all got a long well. Balthazar's mom was Russian and she was sweet. There is a confidence builder pool next to the big pool. It is only 2 feet deep and you swam in it after every class. You loved it. We would go to the pet store next door after class. We would get two puppy dogs out of their cages and play with them in the socialization area. We had a our little routine.

You graduated from the Aqua Tots level and got a ribbon! You are a natural born swimmer, like your Mamma, and I knew you would be.

I love you my little fish! Mamma