We’ve been going along to Turtle Tots swimming lessons for a long time now: first with the little lady for almost 3 years and now with the little man for the past 20 or so months. I’ve always found that organising everything I need the night before is key for me being able to get out of the house on time and without completely stressing myself out, even when our lessons are in the afternoon. Mainly because it is so much easier to organise without any kids needing attention or food or taking everything out of the bag again!

My preparation is in two parts: the swimming bag with everything we need for being in the pool and getting ready afterwards, and a lunch bag with everything I need to make sure the little man doesn’t scream the place down in hanger while I’m trying to get dressed!

The Swimming Bag

My swimming bag is a giant jute bag that I can easily throw everything into when we’re getting ready again after our lesson. The stuff I have in there is pretty standard: for me there’s my swimsuit, towel and the few toiletries that I need after our lesson (I look like I’ve been attacked by a flock of birds 80% of the time so I tend not to worry about how my hair looks after swimming); for the little man there’s his swimming gear (a swim nappy – I love the reusable one I got out of Aldi, a happy nappy and his warma or wetsuit), a towel and his clothes for after the lesson. Our lesson is in the morning so I always take him still in his jammies and just stick his jacket or jumper and shoes on with his jimjams. (It’s perfectly socially acceptable when you’re a toddler to go out in your jammies…)

I have a separate shower bag with our shower stuff in it that I can grab along with our towels when we’re heading to the pool. Those get left next to the pool and that way I don’t ever need to go back and get anything out of our locker; we can head straight to the showers for a heat and a wash!

I also always have a spare towel in the bag, just in case a certain somebody drops theirs in a puddle or something but to be honest I’ve never used it.

Don’t Look Back In Hanger

One of the most important things that I always need for after our swimming lesson is a bag of snacks for the little man. Because even though it’s a half hour lesson, man is he hungry afterwards!

I used to be able to give him a box of raisins once he was dressed and that would last him until I was dressed too, but he has gotten very efficient with those boxes in the last few months. So I now have a lunch bag full of post-swimming snacks; basically a second breakfast/lunch depending on the time of day. And he eats almost ALL of them every time. And having some crackers to hand out is a total lifesaver in that changing room!

So that’s how I prepare for classes. It’s all pretty simple stuff but I’m generally not an organised person at all, so getting everything ready the night before makes a huge difference to my mornings and my stress levels!