Swimming lesson parents

Gosh your swimming lessons sound very stressful. I taught swimming for twenty years and now I have kids in lessons (listen better to literally anyone who isn’t me haha). I always shower my kids there, so do half the other people - if people are waiting for showers people just get the kids to swap in and out (like when you put the shampoo on) so no one is standing shivering and the people who want to nip home and shower there can, and those of us who want the hair wash over and done with also can.
My youngest has additional needs which cause sensory processing difficulties. I generally don’t take her to watch but if I had to I wouldn’t dream of taking her shoes off, it would be far too uncomfortable for her and would cause a meltdown. No I wouldn’t swap her shoes either, same problem. I’ve been the person cleaning the changing rooms and it’s a non issue.
Everyone that I have ever seen over my years of teaching and then parenting leaves their bag in the changing room, it’s much more convenient hanging on a peg than sitting on the bench next to the parent in the viewing room where someone else may want to sit. You’re talking about cubicles though so maybe you go to the leisure centre? Have you tried a learner pool? Generally they are much warmer and you can wait for your child in reception if they can dress themselves. I find prices near me to be very comparable. I only like the leisure centre if I’m doing laps myself.

My children have lessons at a leisure centre in our very middling town and it's nothing like this. Is there nowhere else you can go? Somewhere with more showers for a start.

Oh I'm done with waiting for other children to go through 10 x cycles of the showers, I just firmly tell the other children 'Right, you've had your shower, it's someone else's turn now'. Could not care less if the other parents think I'm rude.

At my child’s swimming lessons a woman wore stilettos in the shower whilst shampooing her child. She didn’t see anything wrong with it even when challenged by staff.

Can I add cluttering up the changing rooms for 15 minutes before the lesson so that adult swimmers getting out of the pool have to squeeze past the queuers to get their washing kit then squeeze back to use the shower then squeeze through again. Also please flush the toilet after using it.

My 2 have both been under dermatology for eczema and need to use the shower before getting home/need to be moisturised after or they start clawing at themselves.

We always wait for everyone to come through from both directions before using the showers though, as otherwise everything gets clogged up.

This takes me back OP- used to drive me bonkers; especially the parents keeping shoes on in changing areas and showers!!
Such a relief when lessons are finished with!!

The swimming pool staff at our leisure centre do a sweep of unoccupied changing rooms once a lesson goes in and remove all bags/personal belongings to an empty locker in the vicinity that they leave open. One parent tried complaining that they were leaving things open to being stolen, the staff pointed out that he too had left his belongings unguarded (and no one wanted his son’s skanky pants anyway).

Leaving belongings in the cubicle till the end of the lesson boils my piss! My daughter does the second lesson of the day and there’s never a free cubicle. All full of other people’s stuff. I’m always tempted to stack their things up in the showers 👍

Had baby DD with me but still got shoes off - hers too once she walked. I have given long shower parent so many evil looks she now reserves a shower for my child to rinse in before her kid gets in for two hair washes and a conditioning treatment.

I wear shoes that I can slip off easily for lessons. Birkenstocks normally.

Been there, done that...took my shoes off.
When my youngest was 4 months it would have been Dec/Jan so boots at that.

I'm thankful that our pool doesn't seem to be like this, although I'm that grotty parent who doesn't shower their kids at all, we wait til they get home 🙈 everyone respects the no shoe rule (although everyone leaves their shoes in the entrance which is a bit of a trip hazard), also never seen anyone leave their bag in a cubicle either. I feel very lucky now!

I send mine in with exactly what he needs and nothing more. We strip off jumper/shoes/socks outside and he just takes his swim shorts in. There is a viewing area next to the pool and he passes me his shorts, polo shirt and pants as he passes, I give him goggles. I then hand him a towel and fluffy onesie at the end of the lesson and take the goggles. The only thing he then needs to remember to bring out is his swim shorts wrapped in the towel. We don't bother with the shower and do that at home... It's a small price to pay for avoiding the hell of the changing-rooms 😂.

Your post has triggered the incandescent rage that I had for YEARS of going through swimming lessons with three children and having to butt up against the absolute selfish inconsiderate arseholes that are basically those parents willing to be more hard faced and pushy - or maybe they just don’t give a shit - as long as it’s their kids that get the prime locker, the full bench, the front seat and the first warm shower. Dicks.

So glad those days are over now…

I’ve totally been there…. And just took my shoes off. That should be easy enough in a sling? If you don’t like bare feet PP’s flip flop idea is good too.

Swimming lessons are hell on earth for parents. I agree with everything you've said, but I'd add something else... There's no real need for parents of over 6s to be in the changing rooms at all in most cases.

Our leisure centre has an u-10 rule for boys in the changing-room, but my DC has demanded to go in the men's alone since age 6 so I've just let him get on with it while sat outside in the waiting area. It has made swimming lessons 100 times less stressful.

From this I've learnt that, just because you can go in with them, doesn't mean you should. When DD is around the same age and able to cope alone in the women's, I'll do the same.

Unless you have littles or they need extra help, send them in and let them get on with it. Cut the number of hovering adults by half and everything will be easier.