First swimming lesson

We signed the boys up for Parent/Tot swimming lessons, mostly because I wanted to meet other parents with babies of similar age. I haven't had much luck meeting people in the park, and the Ontario Early Years Centre was a bust, due to it being inaccessible to strollers....uh huh.

Cloth swimming diapers were purchased, and we were good to go. S took Pin into the changeroom and I took Duckling. I changed him into his cute fishy bathing suit and undressed, and managed to put everything into a locker while simultaneously juggling the boy, the towels and the locker key. I took a shower while holding Duckling away from the hot water, and we were ready. The shower area was packed with women and children, so I politely excused my way to the door to exit into the pool area. It was locked. While this explained the crush of bodies in the shower area, it didn't make it any more comfortable. Apparently the door remains locked while the intructors ready the pool area for the lesson. Eventually we were allowed into the pool, and we joined the rush of men and headed to the pool. We were told to line up around the perimeter of the shallow end, so we headed to the far side of the pool where there was a small gap. It was CROWDED. I couldn't believe how many families had been enrolled into the class.

The swimming lessons were for children aged 3 months to 3 years, but there were a good number of infants. The class consisted of waving the babies back and forth in the water while singing. We put them on their stomachs and then their backs, and pulled them around trying to make them kick their legs. Duckling stood this for the entire half hour, a stoic little frown on his face, hanging loosely in the water and looking at all the commotion. Pin lasted 15 minutes then started crying, and we had to take him out because he was getting quite upset. He fell asleep once he was out of the water, so it seems nap time is not to be ignored.

After class we all piled back into the changing room to dress. It turned out to be quite a juggling act. There is one change table, but it's just a table; there are no safety straps so you can't put the baby down safely. I retrieved all our items from the locker and waited my turn for the table, and finally was able to dry Pin and dress him. I couldn't let him go, so had no way to dress myself. I struggled into my clothes over my wet bathing suit, and met a fully dressed S in the hallway; he had asked somebody to hold Duckling while he dressed. I think next week we will take the car seats into the change room so that we have somewhere safe to put the boys while we get dressed.

Anyway, mission accomplished. I met some really nice people, and fingers crossed I will have some company in the park!