Our newish status as a family of four is being christened
this summer during our first legit family vacation. We’re headed to the beach
with five other families for what I’m calling Real World – Family Style.
Our home-away-from-home sports both an oceanfront view and a
pool, so Phil and I have been talking for a while about getting the Pickle
acclimated to the water with swim lessons. However, whenever it came time to actually
investigate options, I started to flashback to my terror memories of my
swim lessons when I was a toddler and how terrified I was of Mr. J and the pool
at the Y (yes, I still remember his name and face!).
Then Goldfish Swim School invited me to try lessons, which
are designed to help eliminate the anxiety that often accompanies swim lessons by
providing small class sizes, year-round curriculum and warm-water, four-foot-deep
pools. We tried a month of Junior 1 lessons for Dylan for free in May and
signed up for continued classes since we all liked it so much!
 |
| D loves to do his big splash! |
Dylan was a little shy and tearful at the beginning of his
first class so I loved that another instructor came to his lane to help him
one-on-one until he became more comfortable, which didn’t take long.
Since we’ve
been going to Goldfish, D regularly asks when it’s time for swim class – he really
looks forward to it! And, I’ll confess that a few times I’ve pulled out the “Do
I have to call Mr. Sean and tell him about your behavior?!” in desperate times,
which has always worked (Santa who?).
As a family, we haven’t formally investigated other swim
class options, but everyone who has told me that their kid(s) go to Goldfish,
has had great things to say. Here’s what we like about the classes and the
facility:
·
The 4-to-1 student-to-instructor ratio and
30-minute length have always felt right
·
The instructors challenge the kids to improve
their skills
·
We don’t have to be in the water during the class
(woo hoo)
·
Close-up, glass-enclosed pool viewing area
·
Super warm water and air temperature inside the
pool
·
Spacious and plentiful private changing rooms
·
Shower area right next to the pool
 |
| The alligator float is always a favorite |
In addition to weekly classes, Goldfish also offers Jump
Start Clinics, which are five days of consecutive swim lessons that help to get
kids acclimated to the water before vacation. We thought about that option, but
I didn’t think I could commit to that based on my work schedule.
Goldfish is located in Warrensville Heights on Richmond
Road. One thing to note is that traffic on 271 S and Richmond is often hectic
during our commute on weekday evenings. If you’re coming from the East Side, I
highly recommend taking Green to Emery to Richmond – we’ve found that to be our
quickest route.
Free Goldfish Swim
Birthday Party Giveaway ($450 value)
The friendly folks at Goldfish are offering one free swim
birthday party (a $450 value) to one lucky reader of Postcards from Christina!
Invite up to 24 kids for a fantastically fun two-hour party, which includes use
of the pool and party area at the Warrensville Heights location, decorations,
cupcakes, drinks, invitation and more. Check out the full deets here.
Contest details: Ends 7/15/13 at 12:01 a.m.
Disclosure: I was gifted a month’s worth of lessons. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: I was gifted a month’s worth of lessons. All opinions are my own.
UPDATE: Due to an issue with Rafflecopter, below is an updated way to enter:
- Leave me a comment here (on this blog) telling me why you’d like to win
- Tweet the following “Win a birthday party at #GoldfishSwimCLE http://tinyurl.com/mkuunpq (then leave a separate comment on this blog letting me know you tweeted)
- Post a link of this blog post to your Facebook wall (then leave a separate comment on this blog letting me know you posted this to your Facebook wall)
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