The fact that she is comfortable going for a swim on her own with the instructor is really wonderful for me. She will actually do all the things she needs to with the instructor, even if she is having a touchy day.

Today it was just us in the class and I let Grace get into the water with the instructor while I waited outside the pool. She swam around, did what she needed to and was totally comfortable. This was a really important step in the process. Grace's skills are good and she understands what she needs to do, the only barrier left to moving to an individual learn to swim lesson was being emotionally ready to be in the water alone with the instructor.

The baby swim classes focus on safety and the parents are always in the water with their children, but the individual lessons are just the instructor and child in the water – parents sit on the side and watch. Charlene (the instructor) feels that Grace is ready for the individual lessons, so from next term we will most likely be in individual classes.

I am very proud of Grace's progress and how well she is doing in the water, and it has been a privilege to be a part of that process. Part of me is a bit sad that I won't be in the water with her any more. I really enjoy our swimming time together as it is something special that we get to share, and sitting alone on the side is not going to be quite the same. Now I have to wait for summer so that we can go swim at the gym together again.