In At The Shallow End

Here's G and Mrs J earlier today, about to head out for G's first swimming lesson. We were warned that there wouldn't be much space at the pool for prams, so decided to wrap the little one up in her snowsuit and put her in the sling. G slept all the way there even though it was another cold, damp day in Manchester.

Babies can't regulate their temperatures like you or me, so the lesson was in a specially heated small pool. I was going to be in the water with G, but while I waited for all of the mums and babies to get ready, I found myself alone at the side of the pool with another dad. Aware of the fact I was only wearing my shorts (he was fully clothed), I tried to strike up a conversation to ease this potentially awkward situation. I'm now able to reproduce that conversation in full:

Me: "Are you here for the baby swimming class?"
Him (smiling): "Mmm"
Me (putting my hand into the nearby jacuzzi): "This one's a bit warm for the babies!"
Him: "..." (he didn't say anything, then started texting someone on his phone)

At this point I gave up and chuntered to myself about how rude this person was, but I was happy that I'd at least done the decent thing and tried to be sociable. Then this man's wife came out with their baby, and they started using sign language with each other. Yes, they were deaf! Hardly surprising that he hadn't said much to me, as I tried to talk to him while looking in the other direction. Not for the first time in my life, the Curb Your Enthusiasm music began playing in my head. I cringed, inwardly.

The lesson itself started off well. There were six babies in all, G was one of two girls, and clearly the youngest there. But she enjoyed herself, and there were some big smiles when I pulled her along the surface. She didn't appreciate the underwater dunking quite as much, but she'd already started crying (for a feed, as it turned out) so maybe that wasn't so surprising. There are another nine lessons to go, and we've got some things to practice in the bath in between times. I don't think they let you cry during the Olympics, so we've obviously got some work to do.