AMAZING

OMG. Riley was FANTASTIC yesterday at her Water Safety swim lesson. She was the most fully dressed child there (cause Mommy's mean like that). She was wearing a long sleeve shirt, jeans, socks and tennis shoes. All the other children weren't weighted down quite so heavily. I'm sorry but I personally just needed the reassurance that if she fell in the pool in the dead of winter and covered almost from head to two, she'd be able to hopefully save herself. Well, there is definitely hope (God forbid it ever happening).

The class started with all of us getting in the water (kids fully clothed) and listening to the instructor discuss water safety with us. She mentioned the absolute need for life vests whenever you are out on a boat and the absolute need for the vests to be brightly colored (NOT blue or green) so rescuers can spot you easily. She explained how children's vests worked and to make sure and test the vest out before using it to make sure it works properly. She mentioned parents needing to be certified in CPR and First Aid because accidents DO happen. She told us a couple of stories of accidents that did occur... one resulting in the accidental drowning of a 3 year old boy and the other the survival of her own daughter. Scary scary scary. She went over pool fencing, nets and even little turtle wristbands that would set off an alarm in the house when more than 30% submerged. (Definitely looking into that one). Then we practiced swimming to the wall as well as turning around and grabbing the wall when falling in.

The last 5 minutes was the scariest for mommy though. We all got out of the water and, one by one, the instructor went to each child and dropped them in the water (fully clothed). We had to stand there and watch as our children struggled to the surface and then valiantly tried to get to the wall. A couple of kids scared the crap out of me... they had a lot of trouble turning around. I couldn't believe how long she let them struggle, but they didn't cough and swallow any water and they all eventually got to the wall. Riley was amazing. She did it on the first try!

Once all the kids had successfully done this once, the instructor came back and did it one more time. The second time, she actually threw/dropped Riley out further from the wall (kind of like what would happen if she was pushed or jumped in). Riley dropped ALL THE WAY to the bottom of the pool. My jaw dropped. The combination of all the weight of the clothes she was wearing and gravity from the drop literally sunk her to the bottom. I was so proud of her when she turned herself around, swam to the surface and got to the wall. Wow. Just wow!

For smiles, here are two of the underwater photos they took of her last week. They were the only ones I got cause they were the best. Enjoy!