One of the many things I love about our Puddle Ducks journey is the connection to the team and the families you swim alongside. So, when one of the mums asked Donna when the babies moved up to the next class? My heart sank a little.
As Freda is number 5, I'm well versed in the feeling soup of pride, sadness, terror and excitement we feel as parents watching our precious ones move through childcare and education. From nursery to school, high-school to university....but this felt different. It's a journey we are both taking.
I had the butterflies about a new set of parents and little ones. A new structure and activities that may be more challenging for us both. What if Freda wasn't ready? What if I didn't click with the new group? It felt like starting again in a way. But then the pride that she had been picked to move up, she was ready and Donna our teacher could see that.
Would we still be with Donna, would it be the same place and what time slot? We would also miss our little 'Floaties' crew. Meeting up with mums and dads each week to share the sessions has been a real benefit to both Freda and myself. Turns out that we made the transition beautifully.
There are so many options to session times and venues. We also got to move up with Catherine and Max, who we started Floaties with, so they graduated together. We stayed at Ellesmere Port with Donna, as this works well for us and Freda and I love the lessons. Our little crew were happy for us to move up and we still get to see them when we come out of our lesson. It's great to have a catch up and chat about milestones and our sessions. The confidence of the new parents and older babies in the splashers class is infectious and we are looking forward to our next puddleducks chapter.