To think Saturday swimming lessons will be a bit miserable?

[MerryBeret]

DT (reception age) previously had swimming lessons but their teacher moved away and they got cancelled and we took a while to find an alternative, but spaces have now come up.

Previously it was before they started school so lessons were day time (late morning). Obviously that's not possible now they're in school.

We've been given a choice of 11 or 1130 on a Saturday or 5:30 on a Friday, and have to sign up for the full summer term.

530 on Friday will mean we won't be able to eat as a family any more, and the logistics might be slightly tricky as we also have a younger DC. It feels like it will end up being a bit of a rush, and also maybe not ideal when they're tired at the end of the week.

But I'm also loathe to give up my Saturday mornings - it means we can't go away for the weekend, or have a full day out somewhere without them missing swimming (and paying for two lessons they don't go to). The times feel like they're a bit too late to do anything beforehand, and then going out afterwards in the afternoon is also a bit tricky because of younger DCs naps. I don't know if it feels worse because it's summer and I want to have the freedom to just wake up on a sunny Saturday and go to the beach etc if we want?

Aibu about feeling annoyed about committing to this every Saturday, or will it not bother me at all once I'm in a routine?

YABU - just go for the Saturday lessons
YANBU - make Friday work so you can keep weekends flexible

If anyone wants to comment on swimming lessons and logistics and the least painful way of doing this, please do as I'm welcome to any advice! I think it's the having to commit to several months in advance that's making me concerned about it, as it's a long time if it doesn't work out.

These are reception age kids, I imagine a good third of weekends feature a whole class birthday party invite at the very least!

We love our 11am swimming lessons - but it might be we’re better situated! This is how our Saturdays go:

Lie in until about 9
Brunch in pjs about 10
Kids get ready about 10.20
Leave about 10.40
Double swim lesson 11-11.30
Home by 12 and quick lunch or pack picnic
At our local National Trust by 1.30 *OR social meet up with friends
Leg stretch and fun for 2 hours
Home by 4 for dinner prep and feeling good

Lessons don’t run over peak holiday times (Christmas, Easter, half terms), but we do miss them if we’re otherwise away or have plans. But we take the hit because we hate early weekend mornings

Edit to add: Class party invites for us are almost always afternoon times and so don’t clash. Morning parties for us were more so when they were babies.

And we host/meet friends in afternoons!

@MerryBeretunless you live in circumstances where swimming is essential you could always not do swimming lessons at all. I know that’s practically sacrilegious, but…..

I originally thought like you OP that saturday activities were the worst as too restricting so I used to cram everything into the week, but I've changed my view over time as kids have got older and I've realised actually, it's weekday after-school lessons when everyone is knackered and we're rushing that are the real stress.

The worst one ever was Friday after-school swimming which I dragged DD6 and DD4 to every week for two (miserable winter) terms while I was pregnant with DS, in a desperate bid to get them swimming before DS was born. Well it didn't bloody work, both of them were knackered after a week of school, and spent the entire Friday lesson messing around or misbehaving because they needed to let off steam, and neither learned a single thing. AND I kept getting parking tickets.

I agree with a PP that the saturday lessons will be less rubbish than you think - having a little coffee in the café on a saturday morning and half an hour to yourself becomes quite a nice ritual. You think it'll stop you doing stuff but if it's first thing it won't really.

On Saturdays you're rested, you've got two parents (presumably) and you can divide and conquer. And it's just for a period of time- not a life sentence!

We had a terrible experience with the first set of lessons we tried - the teachers barely interacted with the kids and just barked instructions on what to do next really. Friends who have stayed with that provider have had some progress but it’s slow. I would say lessons are pointless if that was our only experience.

We moved to another swim school, not anymore expensive but they have been brilliant. They are in the water with the beginners, they coach each child, the kids absolutely love it, they mix up what they do each week and the kids make great progress. I can swim but there’s no way I could teach my kids to dive in, all the strokes they learn, breathing techniques etc and also OP has twins so would have her hands full teaching both.

This 100%

It's about how much you want them to swim really. It's a massive pain in the arse but if your dedicated to your child having this life saving skill you will find the strength to endure!

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11 on a Saturday is crap, you have to wait about all morning for it to be done and half your days gone. I’d go for 1730 on the Friday, how long is the lesson and commute to lessons? Have dinner in the slow cooker and have dinner when you get home? Kids are always hungry after swimming anyway, plus no need for bath that night as can do hair and shower at swimming.

All the more reason not to have them tired from a morning of swimming

Is younger dc attending? Could they have a pack lunch to eat while the sliblings is in the pool? I have done this myself many times.

Ahh the joys of being governed by kids activities - we currently have 4 year old DS in Swim lessons 4:30 on a Friday, we get home by 5:30 (he's straight into a onesie after swim lesson and thankfully the pool is a 5 min walk from home) and then picky tea/family game night (basically pizza, veg sticks, popcorn etc and mario kart)

Then Karate for DS1 at 10-11 on a Saturday.
The Swim lessons for DS1 at 8:30am Sundays.

If we go away for the weekend we just suck it up to be honest. Once DS2 is out of the ducklings class his session will move to another nuisance time - they go through the stages so quickly I don't think you're ever stuck to one for more than 8/9 months at a time, once DS1 completes stage 7 (the one he's in currently) he wont have any more lessons, he started at aged 5 and will be complete at some point this year so by 9.5 years. so it's only for a few years.

I'd go for the Friday as well, pizza friday is a good idea. Look for additional ways to make it special - when DS was doing trumpet lessons after school, he got a Subway sandwich for his dinner which he loved. It might be a drag going after school when you just want to sag onto the sofa, but them's the breaks. It's probably going to be more useful for you to have Saturdays free.

As an aside, don't worry in the slightest about your dc being "behind". Nobody's keeping a record about how good each kid is at swimming, they won't get marks for it in school when they do the curriculum lessons. You'll find at that point that there are kids in the same class who a) can't swim a length, b) can't swim at all and c) have never been to a swimming pool before*. So don't feel bad about how much practice/lessons yours gets, it varies so much.

Also can confirm that block lessons in the school holidays are a zillion times more effective and your child will progress more in a week than they will with a single weekly lesson for a term. But as your dc is young still, see how they get on - some YR children aren't quite up to following the instructions given and swim schools vary in how good they are at keeping dc engaged. With young kids there definitely should be helpers in the water too, not just the teacher on the side.

*Swim school teacher told me fully a third of one class weren't just non-swimmers but hadn't been to a public swimming pool, ever. I was really shocked that it was so many!

On timings I agree both slots are horrible, but we loved having something in around 9/9.30 on a Sat morning. It got the weekend off to a lovely start. Kids burned some energy off, I thawed out with a coffee, DH had a lie in and our energy levels met in the middle by the end. If we were going off on holiday we'd do the class first, which was perfect to give them a runaround before a long journey. But 11 just gets in the way.

With twins and a bucket load of hindsight , though, I would 100% go for 2 to 1 individual lessons, and you can easily leave it a bit longer before starting. It will save you years of swimming lessons and probably end up costing less overall.

We've had Saturday mid-afternoon lessons for over two years now, just had to suck it up really. It is an inconvenient time but I make the most of it by swimming myself while they are in class, then DC join me for half an hour after the lesson which is nice. It is a pain if we go away/day out or if one of them has a birthday party as the time does ten to clash but we just miss a lesson if need be.

We did years of Saturday morning swim classes over 2 DC. It was absolutely fine, nobody has to get up super early so a relaxed start to the weekend. They were over in time for lunch so we had Saturday afternoon and Sunday free. We found so many children have Saturday morning activities (football, ballet etc) that there were rarely Saturday morning birthday parties. If we did want to go away for a weekend, they just missed that lesson, it really didn't bother me that we'd paid for a session we didn't use - it probably happened 3 or 4 times a year. It really quickly just became part of our normal weekend routine.

We used to do Sat morning baby swimming lessons and it only worked as it was at 9.30am so we basically had the whole day ahead of us. When DD went into stage 1, we switched to 4.45pm on a Fri night and it was a disaster after a full week of nursery, plus DD2 (1yo) was cranky and hungry by the time we got home to eat tea at 5.45pm ish. We now do 4.15pm on a Thursday and it works so much better - DD1 is not as tired and we are home by 5pm ish. Everyone has a ready meal / pizza / little dish type meal for a quick tea, bath and straight to bed. Then she is recovered for nursery on Friday. I agree with pp that starting with Fridays and getting on a waiting list for your preferred day / time would be better. We only had to wait one term to move from Fris to Thurs.

Weekends become full of activities as children get older - swimming, music lessons, sports fixtures etc - we accept it as part of life as a parent and skip an activity if we want to do something else.

They need to learn to swim as a life skill so to a certain extent you just have to live with a bit of inconvenience.

What time would you like it to be? In many ways, all times are going to mess you about a bit.

If classes exist in your area at the times you want, you might want to stay on the waiting list or try another company.

Or as others have said, go for 121. My DS wasn’t learning much in group swimming. I moved him to 121 for a year or so and now he’s club swimming!

Edit - my DS is 11, you wouldn’t have a 5 yo at a swimming club

True!

I'd go for Friday.

But... as a touch of realism... if you want them to do most sports going forward, you are going to have to accept that weekends aren't free. Football, dance, rugby, cricket, hockey etc... all weekends. At first its just training one night, but once they get competitive in a few years its weekends.

Agree with PP re activities in general. My two now do athletics, which generally involves spending the summer driving all round the country, to stand at the side of an athletics track, from 10am - 5pm, to watch the sum total of about 5 mins of running!

I’ve a same aged child and we do 9.30 on saturday. It’s early enough we can still enjoy saturday and it’s not the whole year as there are breaks between the blocks etc. I’m almost always around and me and husband alternate who takes DD. If we are away then we will skip but it’s not often as we usually just leave after swimming (leaving leisure centre by 10.15 most days). I’m not a fan of early mornings on a saturday but my view is that it’s just temporary, she’ll get different times eventually lol. I only have one child though so I would probably be fed up after 5+ years of it 🤷‍♀️

Wait for a more convenient time slot but take DC/s for a fun swim every week in the meantime- at a time that suits your family.

I still don’t really get this “swimming is a life saving skill” thing for most 5 year olds. It’s a scam on a par with bottled water IMHO.

DC did Saturday mornings and loved it. We worked everything else around it.
But you should do what your own priorities dictate and if none of these times work for you then cost your net a bit wider.