In which I Obsess Over Summer…Already

In preparation for summer and all the swimming we plan to do, I wanted to get Caedmon some sort of floatation device to help him out in the big pool and when we go to White Water or the Aquatic Park. Last year when I started looking in May, it was obviously too late because the stores were fresh out of swim things and loading the shelves with Halloween decorations. (Not really, but close.) So this year, I was determined not to miss it.

On one of our excursions with Nana and Poppy over the weekend, I finally decided what sort of swim thing I wanted to get Caedmon.

Now, let me just preface this by saying that I grew up around my Grandmother’s pool, where the common technique of teaching kids to swim was throwing them in just deep enough they couldn’t touch the bottom. There are certain lovely memories I have of my Grandmother’s pool, but that is not one of them.

I want Caedmon’s experience with learning to swim to be a tad less traumatic and life-threatening than mine was. (I was never in any real danger. Mom was quick. She jumped in after my brother fully clothed more than once. It just felt like I might die, and that was good enough for me. The women in my life actually taught me to swim – Meemom and Mom. )

That being said, I don’t want Caedmon to be the laughing stock of the pool either, with some Momma’s Boy floatation contraption that makes him look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. We saw a few of those last summer. Poor kids. And life jackets are wonderful for, you know, saving your life, but they are terribly uncomfortable and almost impossible to learn to swim in.

So I found this little gem at Target. Walmart had one similar (for $5 less, even), but without opening the package, I couldn’t tell if it was as adjustable as the one at Target. So we spent the extra $5 and went for the one we thought we’d get the most mileage out of.

Caedmon was with us when we bought it, and became incredibly attached to his “swim backpack,” as he calls it. Daddy decided he ought to get to try it out. So we filled the tub and in he went.

 

I think he likes it, don’t you? Get ready summer, here we come!