Swimming lessons at Washington Lee HS

For the past few weeks Mason and I have been taking swimming lessons at Washington Lee HS. We are 3 weeks in and this is my favorite activity that we have done together in his whole 17+ month life. I have no expectation that he'll be able to swim at the end of this 9 session class, but it's great to see Mason get excited about being in the water.  Added bonus: it's a great arm workout for me! Here we are at the start of class:

The swimming classes are offered quarterly through Arlington Parks and Rec at multiple area schools and at a variety of levels.  We are in water babies which is age 6 -18 months at the start of the class. We are definitely the oldest in the class but rules are rules and it really doesn't seem to matter at this age. I've learned a lot from my swimming lesson experience to date and I'm happy to share for anyone interested.

Lessons learned:

• Research the date, time, location and level in advance of sign ups being available. Also create a profile with Arlington parks in advance.
• Find out when registration becomes available and sign up that morning. (It's not as bad as Lilly for Target but you get the idea!)
• Bring a rash guard shirt...the WL pool is rather chilly and I think the shirt helps. I've heard Yorktown is a bit warmer but I can't confirm.
• Arrive dressed in your swimwear and just get ready at the poolside bench.
• Assume that post class you won't get a family changing room unless you want to wait or you start to exit the pool about 1 minute before class ends - my preferred strategy!

I think we'll be away too much this summer but I fully intend to sign us up for Water Tots in the fall.