Swimming with 6 Year Olds

I had no idea being a pool with 7 six year olds could wear a woman out like that.

I've been a volunteer at the pool with the kids since Mini-Husband started school 3 years ago, helping little people play on foam mats and jumping into a floating house. Fairly harmless fun, just encouraging them to get over their fear and see water as a good thing.

No problem. That is until these these same little people now think they can "swim."

Water running takes on a whole new meaning in that situation.

There was one child there yesterday, a new kid in the school, who had decided in the changing room that he didn't want to swim. Nope. Not him. He doesn't like water. Not gonna do it. No way.

Somehow the teacher managed to actually get him in the water, which was a small victory. Unfortunately, we then had the pleasure of listening to him yell, "putain" at the top of his lungs.

Now, let me explain something here. That word is not a nice word. Nope, not a nice word at all. It's roughly the equivalent to the f-word in English and coming from a 6 year old in the middle of a pool, surrounded by other bobbing 6 year olds, I was at a loss. The teacher tried to get him to stop, but each time she scolded him, he'd only say it louder.

What were we to do? Keep playing ring-around-the-rosie and ignore him? Send him for time out on the side knowing that would be like letting him win because he's out of the water? Were the other kids picking up on this whole thing?

Finally, the teacher flashed me a smile and when the boy was beginning to curse once again, ring-around-the-rosie became an underwater game.

I give her credit. She didn't end up killing him, he learned to keep his mouth closed in the pool, and in the end everyone had a good time.

I was nearly in hysterics when everyone was getting back on the bus. There stood the little man in question, proud as punch, yelling "putain, I'm a good swimmer!"