Both Karen and I have been playing in and on water for our entire lives. We each grew up swimming, boating and waterskiing with our respective families at young ages. It’s a passion and lifestyle our parents and grandparents bestowed upon us and we are fortunate to now share that same passion with our children.
Water Comfort
From extremely young ages I was determined to make sure the girls were comfortable in water. Karen has been a stickler for bedtime regiment and routine (which has paid great dividends); this includes a bath every night. Once the kids could sit on their own in the tub, we would play pretty hard. I liked to see just how much water action they would put up with. Splashing, squirting water on their face, cups of water on their heads, even turning on the shower at a year old just to see how they would react. Mean right? Maybe, but honestly…they loved it. The results? First, children who do not dread bathtime and second, children who’ve displayed an early comfort and affinity for all things water-related. This made the leap to pool and lake activities seamless.
The day I knew Zoe was going to be a full on lake-baby was about 1 month before she turned two years old in May, 2018. The lake water was still pretty frigid, maybe 60 degrees at best. Certainly not swimming season yet. She was playing on the beach but couldn’t resist the pull of the water. Still fully clothed we let her explore the waters edge figuring the chill would keep her out. It didn’t. Under our watchful eye she rolled around in the shallow water and explored what she could (and couldn’t) do at that point. Eventually we pulled her out so she didn’t get too cold but from that point forward I knew we were going to have a big summer in the water.
Zoe is a pretty fearless kid so she took to swimming and getting behind the boat quickly, perhaps more easily than most. Results will vary, I’m sure, but here are the steps we took to get our 2 year old begging for her turn behind the boat
First Summer (2017) – Age 12-15 months (strong walker by 9 months)
First, we got Zoe comfortable in a floaty in the pool and lake, swimming with Mom and Dad and wearing a life jacket and puddle jumper.
Then, we let her play with youth waterskis on the beach (skis bolted together). We would pull her around in shallow water giving her the feeling of being pulled and water running around her feet.
She spent a lot of time paddling around with me while standing on our stand-up paddle board, and even fell off of it, completely dunking under water (mostly unfazed).
Perhaps most importantly, Zoe came with us every single time we went in the boat to do watersports. Not only was she learning incredibly good balance by walking on her sea legs at such a young age, she was catching on to our love of watersports in a very organic way.
Second Summer (2018) – Age 24-27 months
Zoe was pretty quickly able to swim solo wearing the puddle jumper or life jacket. She was our little fishy. She liked jumping off edge of pool and dock into arms and eventually off the diving board and without being caught.
The game changer was when our neighbor graciously gave us an inflatable EZ-Ski his children had outgrown. The towable allows the child to mimic the position and handle pull of water skiing without the requirements of the deep water start or complete balance. The boat end of the line has it’s own handle so you don’t have to attached it to the boat. You can hold your handle and release it if your child has any trouble, eliminating a lot of risk.
We did progression of the EZ Ski on beach, pulling her into shore over and over so she had a feel for the motion and balance. Weekend by weekend one-by-one she checked off the accomplishments below as she progressed over the summer. Each with a giant smile on her face asking for more.
EZ Ski close behind boat with Dad
EZ Ski close behind boat solo
EZ Ski farther behind boat at increased speed
Water skiing between daddy’s legs
Wakesurfing with daddy
and mommy
By the end of the summer Zoe would insist on her turn being next behind the boat, begging to surf anytime Karen and I were having a set, which we love! That’s our ultimate goal for our kids; to love being outside, adventure and sports. So far, so good!
