Krazy Kevin's Kids Klub

Hello everybody.  First, let me apologise for last week’s article.  I’m sure you noticed that some bits seemed to have been left out (’cause they were), leaving it kinda disjointed to read! 

Let’s just say that the article I wrote and the one that was printed were a bit different to say the least. 
Readers last week would have needed telepathy to work out the answer to the quiz question (as the answer was partially deleted too!)  Somehow, a few keen people managed to get the correct answer; which was the Al A’ali Complex.  So, well done, for searching around to get the right answer guys!
Anyway let’s hope this week we don’t have any gremlins.
So here’s what’s been happening in the ‘Krazy World of Kevin’ this week?
In the hot weather during the school holidays it’s always great to get into a swimming pool and cool down (if you can find one that’s still cool that is).  I’ve been doing lots of swimming with my daughter Hannah. 
Hannah pretty much always wears her ‘Magic Swimming costume’ (which has removable floats sewn in) which keeps her buoyant in the water, and it got me thinking about water safety and kids.
My wife Wendy’s friend Tara teaches children to swim and she and her daughter Armani (who is 18 months old) came over to our place to splash and swim in our compound pool last week. Now I’m very proud of our Hannah’s swimming ability – she is only three years old and we’ve already removed half the floats from her swimming costume (and even without it she manages 1-2ms before she sinks). 
But little Armani blew me away!  Boy that kid loves the water. Seeing her underwater blowing bubbles with eyes open had me flabbergasted.
Hannah hates getting any water in her eyes, let alone getting her whole face wet. But Armani is completely unfazed by it.
Tara told me about how she got into teaching. Armani had her first swimming lesson on holiday in Australia when she was just 10-months-old. 
The lesson was so much fun that Tara made inquiries about swimming lessons for babies back home in Bahrain. But, when she couldn’t find any she decided to do an ‘Austswim Instructor Course’ in Brisbane, Australia.
If you’re interested in finding out more about teaching kids to swim, check out the “World Wide Swim School” website. 
Tara recommended it to me and I found it enlightening. I thought it exceptional because kid’s physical, social and emotional needs are taken into consideration. 
The site says that when teaching kids to swim, their physical development on land has a huge bearing on what they can achieve in swimming lessons. OK, not exactly rocket science – but I for one had never thought about it like that.
When Tara came back to Bahrain she joined the team at ‘Chaoss’. Lessons have taken a break over school holidays but she is looking forward to starting again in September.
Tara says that teaching has been doubly rewarding because not only is she working – but she gets to involve Armani too. 
She says that “Babies really can learn about kicking and paddling, blowing bubbles, holding onto the side of pool and other simple water safety”. 
She makes her lessons fun and active, and even involves nursery rhymes and other fun stuff for babies and their parents.
Swimming is fun and we sometimes forget the dangers. Some of it is as simple as ‘shut the gate’.  Other advice is the good old Aussie slogan of ‘Slip, Slop, Slap (slip on a t-shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat) – but is still definitely the only way to be ‘sun-safe’. 
I had a ‘swimming safety’ wake-up call the other day. I was clowning around and hit my head on the bottom, I heard my neck go crunch and got dizzy. Any good masseurs out there? Hannah, who’s a clever little monkey told our neighbour who was lazing on a sun-lounger that her “daddy just hit his head”.
So another good piece of advice is probably never swim alone – even if you think you’re a good swimmer, and especially never ever, ever let your kids swim alone.
Keep Happy and stay safe
Krazy Kevin