The Benefits of Raising My Children On The Water

When we moved our family from the East Coast to Chicago, one of the first pieces of advice that another parent gave me was to make sure that my children knew how to swim. We followed their advice, signing up our two girls for swim lessons, not thinking about the opportunities this would lead them to later in life. Swimming was simply a skill needed for survival. 

But as they grew up, our girls began gravitating towards the water. Maybe it was being near Lake Michigan and spending time at the beach in the summer or maybe it was just enjoying their swim lessons. Whatever it was, they wanted to be in and around water as much as possible. 

One summer, they attended a 10 day overnight camp on Cape Cod, and they came back to Chicago determined to be strong swimmers. At camp, they needed to reach a certain swimming level in order to do the waterskiing, sailing, and wakeboarding activities, which then motivated them to master swimming at a higher level. And this was just the beginning. Their comfort around water allowed them to experience more adventurous water pursuits: a school trip to Bimini where they snorkeled and lived on a boat for a week as they studied marine biology, a two-week surf trip to Nicaragua, an even greater lifelong desire for jet ski trips. That one piece of simple advice has led to even greater feelings of joy, confidence, and exhilaration. It has made their worlds’ just a little bit bigger.

Now, I look back at my own childhood, and although I was able to spend time on Cape Cod and loved being near the ocean, I never considered myself a strong swimmer. I did go into the water; I loved the beach and riding the waves, and I still do, but I was not ever taught many of the basics. Therefore, I gravitated to land sports such as running, tennis and basketball—until my lack of height became a barrier for the latter.

As a psychologist, and more importantly as a parent, I’ve learned the importance of exposing children to all types of activities. We have to let children explore areas that we may not be comfortable with or may not even see the importance of. Swimming might be one of those areas for some of us. And while it may not lead them to a Division 1 college swim scholarship or a professional Olympic career, it could bring adventures, self-exploration, and excitement that would otherwise lie dormant.  For our girls, what started as a basic skill has since become a part of their life.