We took the girls swimming for the first time today. Friends of ours (D and C) live in a block of flats (as dh rather ungrandly calls it) that has a swimming pool in and we thought it would be a good way of introducing the girls to the water without having to deal with 67 other families jostling for space in the local public swimming pool.
Pre-girls, in my honed 'n' toned gym days, I used to go swimming a couple of times a week and had forgotten three crucial things: 1. How much I enjoy going swimming 2. How ravenous I feel afterwards (I'm dealing with this by mainlining crisps and chocolate now the girls are in bed) and 3. How much my hair hates chlorine.
No matter. The girls' first experience of swimming started off quite badly. We trapised down to the changing rooms adjacent to the pool and the first sight of the water produced some serious bottom lip trembling and quiet whimpering. The four of us (two for each girl) decided to press on and R and G were dressed in their swimming costumes and swim nappies for the first time. They looked very cute, if rather chunky (shot-putter thighs!) in their swimming togs. G had treated us to a 5am wake up call this morning so dh decided that as punishment, she should wear the costume with horizontal stripes on (only slightly unflattering - think George Dawes at the beach) R got to wear the pretty costume with flowers on.
G barely made it to the side of the pool before breaking down into huge, heart-rending sobs of fear. We tried the softly-softly approach. The wails got louder. We tried the 'fling her in and hope for the best' approach. That didn't work either and led to several minutes of silent sobbing. For a little while I sat with G at the side of the pool (nowhere near the water of course), cuddling her and making soothing noises while she calmed down.
Meanwhile, R, normally the more wary of the two was having a whale of a time in the pool with Daddy, D and C. She was slightly confused by it all to start with, but thanks to a couple of pool props - balls and floats - znd the calming presence of dh, she was soon splashing about and giggling her head off. I knew we'd cracked it when she shouted 'OUT', got out of the water (with some help), stood on the poolside steps and shouted 'READY, STEADY GO!', leapt into the pool with assistance from one of the adults and started kicking her legs.
Dh and I swapped over and I played with R in the water while he coaxed G into edging a bit closer to the water. It was then that we saw one of the best things about having twins in action - healthy competition. G watched R getting in and out of the pool and decided she wanted a piece of the action. Gradually, with lots of cheerleading from all of us G did a little bit of light splashing at the poolside. Then she followed R on to the pool steps, gripped dh's hand and rather gingerly slipped in to the water, without tears or hysterics this time.
G wasn't quite as brave as R but at least she was in the water. We let the girls decide how they wanted to do things and let them play by the poolside as much as they wanted, occasionally asking them if they wanted to go back into the water. We actually stayed in and around the pool for about an hour and a half and only the tiredness of the adults involved and hunger pangs drove us back into the changing rooms. D and I sorted G out and I knew dh and I had done the right thing when, as we walked back past the pool to leave, G looked at the water and giggled.
So after a rather shaky start, another milestone reached, achieved and passed with flying colours by the girls. I hope they sleep well tonight. They certainly deserve to.
