This is my 9th year teaching swimming lessons. Honestly... I LOVE THIS JOB. I almost feel guilty charging people, because I enjoy it so much. There is nothing like the feeling of helping a child to get across the pool by themselves for the first time. Their smiles, their yells of "look what I did, mom!" their excitement as we try new fun activities... {sigh} I just love it! I think the only thing better than this will be to teach my own little girl to swim. Right now we are just doing lots of splashing in the bathtub (which is actually an important precursor to swimming - kids need to learn to enjoy water splashing in their faces). Brief history, for those who are interested: once-upon-a-time, I lived in Spokane in a beautiful home with a big pool in the backyard. Teaching swimming lessons was a family tradition, beginning with my brother Steve. My sister Lindsay was the first to get it going in our pool in Spokane. My brother Brady was her assistant, and I was recruited to help pass out flyers around the neighborhood to advertise. I dont remember if they paid me or not... they probably didnt. I was exploited. Even when Lindsay moved away and I became Bradys assistant, he didnt pay me much and I always had to take the pool cover off and do all the cleaning. So of course, when Brady moved out and Meredith became MY assistant, I didnt pay her well and made her do the grunt work. By this time, there was no need to pass out flyers. Word of mouth advertising kept me in the pool 6 or 7 hours a day - which is EXHAUSTING. Constantly talking, holding kids up, enduring the sun, and having my mind go 90 miles a minute... whew. But I loved it, and made more money than any of my friends in their summer jobs. I also got really tan, bleached hair, had no commute, and was pretty in-shape from all that swimming.
This continued til age 20 when I got married and spent my first summer away from home. My parents had to field the phone calls that still came in, asking if we would be having swim lessons.
Last summer, I had an epiphany: "wait a minute... Brian and I live in an HOA with a pool....I should teach swim lessons!" So I put an ad on Craigslist, and started scheduling private lessons. It was amazing to me that all my years of teaching just came back so instantly. I guess that should be expected... I mean, after saying "chicken, airplane, soldier" thousands of times, you really cant forget it. I also went to the Red Cross and got Child/Infant CPR and First Aid certified again. I thought about re-doing my Lifeguard and WSI certification...but I really detest their teaching methods. Pretty arrogant of me, I know. I like mine better- they actually work.
So now you will find me every Saturday morning/afternoon in the Westbridge pool with adorable little kids in the water. Youll find Brian at home, having some great QT with Brianna.
8 comments:
I wanna know how your post date is Wednesday June 25th, when today is Tuesday June 24th?? HaHa!
That is such a great idea for you to start up teaching swimming lessons again! A good way for you to do something for yourself too. I still think of your parent's old pool back in Spokane when I think of a house that has a great "kid safe" pool!
yeah, i tried to future-date it... Ive done it before, but it decided not to work this time. I swear, blogger has a mind of its own. And sometimes our minds dont agree. I wanted to future-date it to spread out my posts, since I know I likely wont do another this week, I didnt wanna have two in a row. Gotta spread the love, ya know? But there was no love-spreading.
And about the pool being kid-safe... yeah, except when my crazy friends would attempt flips off the diving board and come within inches of cracking their skull... so scary! But we were lucky - no major accidents or deaths, besides that one sad puppy :(
I am glad that you were able to use some of our pictures!! :-) The girls were asking to go and swim with Chelsea yesterday. They can't wait to come again!!
That is great that you are doing that. I also loved teaching swimming lessons, I think that the 3 summers I did that, I was in the best shape of my life. That is great!!! I just hope that you are wearing a lot of sunscreen.
Yep - swim lessons in the back yard were a way of life at the Smith house. The "first" year was pivotal - we did not have the pool heated and Lindsay wore a wet suit - she would tell the kids..."just jump in!" Pool heated the next year - hypothemia complaints became annoying! MOM
Chelsea, Are you full? I would LOVE to get Judson into lessons. He took some last year but I have been lazy this summer. How much do you charge,your times, etcetera?
Wow, I would love to have your talents for swimming and running. Both of which I sorely lack any desire to accomplish, but I want my Judson to feel confident in the water and not be a fraidy cat like his mommy!
Amy - (and others who are inquiring) - nope, not full - always accepting new students!
I'm only doing private lessons now. Wish I could do group classes (since they are more affordable for the parents, and more fun for everyone), but since its not my own pool, I cant take up that much room. So I do small private lessons - but it's the same price if parents want more than one child in the same classtime. I just work with them both at the same time, taking turns.
Lessons are $15/halfhour (thus $30/hr). People can schedule however many lessons they would like, in whatever time increments. I just teach on Saturdays (but when we finally get transferred out of Vernal, Ill do weekdays too. Hopefully that will be SOON!)
Just call or email to set up a specific time. I set the schedule week-by-week with the families. Currently Im working with 5 families (12 students total).
Chelsea, I remember swim lessons very well, with you, Brady & Lindsay. I wish you were still in Spokane, I have one more that needs lessons, and nowhere to go! It was nice having it in the neighborhood and being able to walk!
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