OSA: PARENT PERSPECTIVE

Through Mom’s Eyes: Watching Confidence Grow

As I sat down to write this, the only real words I kept thinking were THANK YOU. Thank you for the comfort in knowing that I don’t have to be scared around water anymore, thank you for helping my kids feel confident enough to enjoy their childhood in the pool and for the peace of mind in knowing that if something were to happen, they now have the skills to save themselves.

Ever since I was little girl, I can remember loving the water but I also remember not really wanting to be in it. The thought of drowning over road my ability to enjoy swimming in the pool and don’t even get me started on the ocean. The vacations that included beautiful weather, gorgeous sand and waves are some of my favorite memories, but I wasn’t really able to go out further than waist level in the water. It was always something I wanted to do but never felt confident enough in my swimming abilities to enjoy.

Flash forward to my life as a mother of two sweet babies and that fear increased substantially because not only do I not feel confident in my abilities but became even more scared to take them anywhere with water.

When we first began swim lessons with Oklahoma Swim Academy, I was hesitant because like a lot of parents watching, I wasn’t too fond of seeing my kid cry in the water. We stuck with it though and after only a few lessons, the tears dried up and my kids began asking when they would get to go swimming next.

The survival skills they have learned at Oklahoma Swim Academy are going to be with them the rest of their lives and almost as important to me, is that they have learned how to be resilient in the face of something scary and have grown through hard work. It is my hope that learning these life lessons at an early age is preparing them to do big things later on in life, in and outside of the water.

Piper Riggs, Owner and Founder of Caraway Lane Marketing and Mother to 2 OSA Swimmers