Treading water: My fear of swim lessons

Last summer, my daughter took dance lessons. This summer, with any luck, she’ll learn to swim.

Her summer care group offers swimming lessons to the children who sign up and pay a little extra. After my husband and I talked it over, we decided it would be a good skill for her to learn.

(Photo by Chance Agrella/FreeRangeStock.com)

So why do I feel so nervous about not being there for the lessons? I have no clue. All I know is I worry like crazy that my 6-year-old is so short on focus that she’ll miss key parts of the lessons, then get overconfident and swim right on out in the deep end while all the adults have their backs turned for two seconds.

My brain tells me facts: The people running the swim lessons are skilled, they’ve done this for years, and they know 6-year-olds can be off in their own little worlds when they should be paying attention. In short, they know what they’re doing.

It’s not even like I have a nagging feeling something bad will happen, but somehow I think that if my daughter is going to be swimming, I should be right there making sure she’s OK, or doesn’t hate swimming because it doesn’t come easy to her (which she’s done about other activities, like roller skating).

I know I can’t be there, and I even acknowledge that she’ll probably learn more if I’m not there to distract her, so during her lessons I’ll be miles away at work, hoping all is going well.