To think Saturday swimming lessons will be a bit miserable?

We swim on Saturdays and I hate that it basically ruins the whole day. We make it work but I'm not happy about it! I would definitely prefer Fridays. Dinner, swim, shower and go home for a snack and bedtime 💪🏻

Not if do 1-2-1

i honestly think we ended up saving money and time because they make SO much quicker progress than group lessons

You have years of this ahead.

I wouldn't bother. You can still take them and teach them yourself and they will get swimming lessons with school anyway. Mine both learned to swim when we were on holiday.

We have done both Friday evening and sat morning over the years. I prefer sat morning, especially if earlier as then you can get on with your day.
Fridays we just had to eat a bit later which was fine.

Doesn't anyone on here work weekends? My DGC goes Sat morning but either mum or dad are working morning or afternoon shift so it's not as though every weekend could possibly be taken up doing " fun" things as a family. Yet reading here everyone saying about busy all week and free time at wekends

That's fair @Sunseeker83 . We've taken the rubbish slots before to get first dibs on the better ones next time. They tend to offer slots to existing customers before waitlist ones. If you're hoping to just do it for a term in the summer, that would favour the Fri night I think. Then hope to switch to a better slot in Sept, because Fri nights in December are pretty grim.

These comments about - just wait and do it when a better slot comes up or get private lessons are living in dream land. Getting swimming lessons (private, local authority, 121, 1 to many - any type!) is harder than getting Glastonbury tickets in some places. I am on every waitlist in an hour driving radius, am willing to pay basically anything, and have been for nearly 1.5 years. Anyway, id take the 5.30 pm Friday slot. No brainer. It’s one meal a week. Make it your takeaway night. Leave your weekend free.

Also, if you’re missing out on family dinners together, plan nice breakfasts or brunches and these will substitute for the time being.

Don’t bother with swimming lessons until they’re super confident in the water - lots of fun sessions, holidays with access to pools etc and splashing about if that’s realistic/affordable for you. Then intensive lessons. My 6yo DD is currently blasting through swimming levels having spent lots of her life splashing about after two much older siblings.

Also, I’ve learned that situations with classes never last forever. Our Fridays were jam packed for a couple of years, now they’re completely free and Sunday mornings are a riot - 8-9am swim, 9-10 gym class, 9-11am gymnastics (3 kids). This will pass too, so we’re just going with it for the time being and enjoying fairly productive Sundays after being up bright and early.

Saturday is much better in my opinion. Everyone is tired and grumpy on a weekday evening, and on a Friday people just want to chill out and relax.

Id do the Fridays as there's also often birthday parties on Saturdays now they're at school x

I found Saturday morning much easier than 5pm Friday.

We do Saturday at 9, i like it as then do the supermarket shop straight after and feel like I'm back home by about 10.30 a.m having achieved loads 🤣
We miss occasional lessons if we have something on but it seems to work and Sunday is our sacred day of being lazy and not having to set an alarm!

Same! Thought I’d hate them, but really like Saturday morning lessons!
No rushing around in the evening, fitting dinner in, going out in the dark in the winter… we have a quiet couple of hours and then go to swimming in the daylight and well rested.
Still possible to go out for the day or whatever and we do miss them occasionally if need be.

We like our Sunday morning (11am) swimming lessons!
At first I felt like you but now they really fit our schedule well:

• we sleep until late, hang around in pajamas, take our time getting ready (such a luxury!), then DS + one of us go for swimming while the other parent prepares the lunch. Bliss!
• we realized it's super rare we have the need of staying out all day both Saturday and Sunday. If we plan an all-day outing we just do it on Saturday. And, anyway, if we want to do something on a Sunday we have plenty of time to do it straight after swimming.
• DS is now in Y1 and he's way too tired at the end of the week. He's tolerating his Thursday afternoon activity but we had to cancel the other club he had on Friday.

I looked at taking my two children swimming this Easter holidays while visiting my parents as our pool is closed for a year for upgrading.

For the three of us... £24 for a 45 minute session.
It makes the £30 a month for the weekly lesson loom cheap.

First world problems 😂😂😂😂

Imbusytodaysorry We live by the coast,and by 12.00 the car parks/parking would be bursting by then! Also in Summer young children burn easily and midday sun is not recommended.

My 8 yr old foes Friday 5:30pm. Unable to book 1-2-1 as swim school is popular and they have no slots for this. Not ideal but we've sucked it up. Refuse to give Saturday up for swimming.

With children this is how it is really.My DS went to Swimming ,and we just had Fish and chips that evening.Not everything is going to fit in perfectly! These are the least popular times, presumably why they have a slot.I would do Fridays,take out if possible or just fish fingers and oven chips .DS will thank you when hes older.My DS is in his 20s now ,still fondly remembers our activities inc swimming .Went on a lads holiday swam out to the boat .Didnt have to but all his friends were .Its a life skill in many ways

I'm an older mother, and also my DS is now 14. I just taught him myself - is that not a thing now? He was swimming independently at 5, and very quickly progressed, though will never be in the Olympics.
Your Saturday option would have clashed with lots of parties, for DS.
Friday sounds perfect to me.

I would do Friday bring PJs for after shower and have a nice quick tea pizza or whatever they like make it fun Friday

I really think it is different with subsequent children though, because by then you know more or less what they are taught in swimming lessons and can do it yourself. I think that once you know this stuff, as long as your child is reasonably comfortable in the water, you can replicate most of it yourself. But it's better if you can commit to once a week rather than once every so often.

We’ve had Friday gymnastics between 4.30 and 5.45 start since dd started reception 7 years ago. I think you just get used to it and it’s fine! The good thing is about Friday, you don’t worry about being out of routine and eating later etc as it’s weekend the next day.

I wouldn’t go for the Saturday - mid morning would be a pain.