（日本語は後半にあります）

【English】

Today was my second son’s third swimming lesson. Weekday afternoons are relatively empty, and to my surprise, there were only three students today, including my son. But when it comes to swimming, it is better to have fewer students taking the same lesson at the same time. The coaches can check my son’s swimming condition carefully and he can swim a lot because his turn comes around quickly.

As I have written before, my second son started his lessons much later than my elder son. The students taking lessons at the same level as my second son are probably 3 to 4 years old, and my son, who will soon be 6 years old, is noticeably big. Of course, he didn’t seem to mind at all.

There may be some disadvantages to starting lessons at a later age. But there are also advantages. One of them is that they are more willing to practice compared to starting to learn at a much younger age, just because their parents want them to.

It was my second son’s own wish to learn how to swim. He had been asking for it since the end of last year, but it had been delayed due to various reasons, and it finally became a reality this spring. He has been waiting for this lesson for a long time, and so far he is very happy to be able to attend. My elder son…and myself, when we first started swimming as children, we started at the request of parents, and we were crying while taking the lessons. I think most of the students in the toddler class have a similar start. They all cried, “Mommy~!” in the changing room and were forced to be taken to the pool side crying the first few times…it is a common scene.

However, my second son was enthusiastically taking lessons from the first time without any reluctance, probably due to his relatively advanced age in the infant class and the joy of finally being able to go swimming, which he had always wanted to learn. He seems to believe that he should be able to swim in the river this summer.

It is heartening to see a child so enthusiastic about learning something. My second son believes that he will soon be able to swim, and even from a distance I could see that he was eager to practice as much and as quickly as possible. Watching him practice, I realize that the one hour of practice that I spent as a child, when I was forced by my parents to do it, and the one hour that my second son spends now, are completely different things. I wonder which is better, to start children’s lessons as early as possible based on parents’ judgment, or to wait for children to develop a desire to learn on their own? I have been thinking about this for a while.

On our way home, we found a KoiNobori (carp streamer) corner next to the escalator on the first floor of the building. If one writes a wish on a carp streamer made of paper and ties it, it will be delivered to the Kumano Shrine in that Kumano Town. I suggested to my son, "Why don’t you try writing on it?". He picked up a pen and started to write something. Here is his wish.

“May God help me to swim faster."

His mind seems to be full of swimming right now.

Today, I was able to exceed 5,000 steps by taking him to and from this swimming school and shopping and other activities afterwards.

【Japanese】

今日は次男の3回目のスイミングです。平日の午後は比較的空いていて、今日はなんと、たった3人のレッスンでした…次男を含め。でもスイミングは空いていれば空いているほどいいんですよね。コーチに細かくみてもらえるし、すぐ順番が回ってくるのでたくさん泳げるし。

以前も書いた通り、次男の習い事スタートは長男と比べてかなり遅くなってしまいました。いま同じ級でレッスンを受けている子どもたちは、おそらく3〜4歳で、もうすぐ6歳になる次男はひとり身体が大きく目立ちます。もちろん、本人は全く気にしている様子はありませんでしたが。

始める年齢が遅かったことで、不利な面もあるかもしれません。でも、良いこともあります。幼いうちに訳も分からず通い始めるよりも、意欲的に練習に取り組めるという点です。

次男がスイミングに通うことになったのは、本人が「通いたい」と言ったからでした。それも昨年末くらいから言っていたのが、なかなか諸々の都合がつかず延び延びになっていて、ようやくこの春実現したのでした。本人にとっては待ちに待った習い事なので、今のところ大喜びで通っています。長男は・・・また私自身も子どもの頃にスイミングを始めた当初は、親の希望で始めたもので、泣きながらレッスンを受けていました。幼児クラスの生徒の大半は、皆似たようなスタートだと思います。更衣室で「ママ～！」と泣きながら無理矢理プールサイドに連れていかれ、最初の数回は泣きながらレッスンを受ける・・・よく見る光景です。

しかし次男は、幼児クラスの中では年齢が比較的高いことと、ずっと習いたかったスイミングにようやく通えるという喜びからか、初回から嫌がることなく夢中でレッスンを受けていました。夏に保育園のお泊り保育があるのですが、その頃には川で泳げるようになっているはず！と信じているようです。いや、さすがにそれは・・・。

それでも、子どもが何かを習得しようと夢中になる姿というのは、見ていて心打たれるものがあります。次男は近々自分が泳げるようになると信じていて、「早く！早く練習したい！」と前のめりになっているのが遠目にも分かりました。その様子を見ていると、子どもの頃に私が親に「やらされている」と思いながらイヤイヤながら練習していた一時間と、次男の今の一時間とは、全然違うものであることを実感させられます。

子どもの習い事、親の判断でできるだけ早くに始めるのと、子ども自身に「学びたい」という気持ちが芽生えるのを待つのと、どちらが良いのでしょうね？ちょっと考えてしまいました。

帰りがけ、ビル1階のエスカレーター横に鯉のぼりのコーナーがありました。紙で作られた鯉のぼりに願い事を書いて結ぶと、その熊野町熊野神社に納めてくれるのだそうです。次男に「書いてみたら？」と勧めると、ペンをとって何やら書き始めました。彼の願い事はこちら。

「スイミングでおよぐのがはやくなりますように」

今日はスイミングの往復、その後の買い物などの活動で5,000歩を越えることができました。
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io 16/04/20245524Daily Activity