Jack has wanted to put the twins in swim lessons all summer but I've been kind of hesitant -- lots of excuses, but no good reasons why not. But after having a dinner out with some girlfriends, I was convinced. Our friend Hilary took her little Ruby to Miss Rita's swim class in Grandville (she is known by some as the Swim Nazi) and said we should try it. So, on a whim, I called to see if they had any openings for this week and they did!
On advice from Hilary, I didn't watch a minute on Monday. On Tuesday, they both cried on the way to swim class, but I watched from inside the house and they were getting chucked into the deep end and swimming to the ladder. On Wednesday, I sat outside and watched while they learned some more. Today, Daddy came along too and look at what they can do!
I took my son 2 years ago when he was 3 to Rita. It was early June in the a.m. Day one, it was 53 degrees out and Rita had my son sitting on the edge of the pool all wet shivering like crazy. When I went outside to put a towel around him she yelled at me. My son did not cry like most of the other kids as he'd already had some swim lessons. Day 2 he was sitting in the water on the steps surrounded by kids crying. He finally caved and started crying. Rita came up to him and started pointing in his face and and yelled at him to quit crying. She told him it was his fault all the other kids were crying. My son talked about being yelled at for months. He struggled with thinking he made the other kids cry. She was verbally abusive to a 3 year old. That type of treatment is completely unacceptable towards children. I don't care what the results are, it's not worth it. There are plenty of swim schools that will treat your child with kindness. We didn't go back and finish the week. It's my job as a parent to protect my child. Stay away from this place, find someone else. My husband called to talk to her and explain why we wouldn't be back. She yelled at him and hung up on him. She then called back, yelled some more and hung up again. Again, find someplace else.
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