The worst part about swimming lessons

[bruzogiri]

is getting the kids dressed in the changing room when it’s over. They are wet, the floor is wet, everything is wet. My kids are 5 and 7 so they can get themselves dressed but the clothes stick to them, they are wore out and tired after the lesson.

Any tips to help with the process? We do sandals and no socks, loose fitting clothes but I’ll take any other suggestions!

My son comes home in a pair of sliders and one of these towels, so quick and easy
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Onsies and cross here too. They turn up with their swimmers under the onsie and on the way out dry pants and onsie back on. Its made it much quicker.

My rules were always costume off or your not getting your towel, or else it'll be soaking and useless. Then I'd sort clothes rapidly. Had four under 5 so it was a military operation but worked well and fast.

Came to say onesie and crocs and then shower at home but I’ve been beaten to it!
It is a complete game changer though

Don’t mean to sound thick but what kind of onesies are you all talking about? Haven’t seen any kids wearing them around here.

Baby powder and loose clothes! Mine go in t shirts and joggers in winter and t shirts and shorts for summer. Baby powder on feet and bottoms. Crocs and no socks

I’m not sure why the clothes stick- how is it different to home ? They need to dry properly. It’s not ideal but we never booked lessons at a time we needed to rush rush rush to get home to bed.

Ohhhhhhh god it's all flooding back 😩

Dry robes weren't a thing when DD was doing lessons 4/5 years ago (i don't think. Were they? If not why didn't i know about them?!?)

The heat, the scrum of kids, the smell of piss (i complained a good few times), the manky floor - this was quite a posh modern centre as well!

The only thing that made it ok was the fact it was friday night and once you were finally out it was the start of the weekend !

Onesie and crocs to put on afterwards 1000% easier

An old towel on the floor was a game changer for us and then, hair turban towel for hair. I get them to vigorously dry themselves with a large grown up towel, particularly feet. Such a faff and not much fun.

This is triggering me into flash backs! Getting 3 young sons dressed in a crowded changing room, sweating hot, socks flying, noisy kids, my 'death stare' when one didn't behave. My youngest insisted on changing in a toilet cubicle & I'd see the towel on the gross floor in there. That was boil washed at home! The cherry on the cake was always some kid switching off the light in this windowless room & plunging us into darkness. Intravenous wine needed by the time I got home.

For me it was arsehole performative parents you had to sit with getting dressed was a breeze compared to with that

DS is Stage 6 and I'm almost done at this point having already completed several grim years of lessons with his older sibling.

He is learning at my gym which is at least a nicer experience than the grotty Better GLL pool he was at before but it's still a faff. We've agreed he can do a crash course for Stage 7 and any advanced lessons beyond that. I'm so completely OVER it all.

I got this to a fine art. No shower. Quick towel dry (head towel for girls), Onsies - straight in with no underwear, clean flip flops for you, crocs for the kids to slip on when we’re done. It’s still grim but better and takes about 3 minutes

I feel less guilty now after reading this! I hated swimming lessons with a passion 😂

I bring a bath mat for the floor, best thing I’ve ever done!

Teach them how to do it, and accept it's going to take far longer than getting ready at home! Once someone actually told me as a kid how to get dry and dressed after swimming it started taking much less time, and it's different to at home after a shower, so it does need taught, because 'get dry then' 'get dressed' 'get ready' doesn't work well the way they've already been taught. When we take big groups of kids, I always try to encourage them to do half and half, and shoes very last. This is also good for if you've gotta do it on a beach, as less exposed!

I'd suggest:
Out of pool, stand by lockers and wait to be given their stuff. Give them towel, wrap round them, then carry stuff to cubicle. Then to get dry and dressed:

1. Towel dry body off, ring out long hair.
2. Take off top half (full costume down to waist, bikini top off, swim shirt off). Leave bottom halfs on. Dry off top half fully. Put t-shirt on (+vest if needed).
3. Towel dry hair.
4. Bottoms off. Dry bottom half. Put underwear on. Dry bottom of legs again. Trousers on (at this time of year, if you can do loose shorts do!).
5. Dry off bench area. Put shoes on floor, with one sock in each shoe. Get hairbrush and anything else needed out of bag. [Whilst they're learning, you might want to leave cubicle and do the next bit in communal area if there's a bench and some roughly dry floor]
6. Sit on bench. Dry one foot. Put that sock on. Put that shoe on. Don't put foot on floor until shoe and sock both on.
7. Dry other foot, put other sock then shoe on.
8. Stand up, pack back (leave hairbrush out). Leave cubicle! (If hair still soaking you can keep towel out too)
9. In communal area, brush hair, empty rest of locker.

A hair towel, onesie and crocs is the winning formula. Shorts and baggy tshirt in summer if it's too warm for a onesie

I served my time in the swimming changing room war zone and I still have flashbacks and nightmares

Eventually dc2 was getting nowhere so I paid for individual lessons and I really wish I had done this from the start with both dc. It took so much less time to get them to competent swimming level and we could finally stop going.

Sometimes I feel sad that my DC is grown up and at university, and then threads like this make me feel much, much better.
We used to go by bus which made it even worse!

Minimal clothes, shower at home.
Swim mummy mafia was the worst thing.