Swimming lessons are an emotional drain

It’s a good life skill, admits Will Gore, but watching kids zigzag across a pool is a stressful experience

Studies revealed that in a largish pool you can expect to find 75 litres of urine (Getty)

When you are a new parent, there are a great many things you look forward to fondly: a first smile, perhaps; a trip with baby to the park on a sunny day; or a perfect morning moment as the little one wakes from their deep slumber in their cosy cot.

Expectations change by the time a second child comes along, and you know that the best you can hope for is the occasional, brief respite from their bawling, desultory swings in the drizzle and being greeted at 5am by a glint in baby’s eye and a steaming turd that baby’s nappy has failed to contain.

Sometimes, expectations become self-fulfilling, however. When our daughter was tiny, we had plenty of energy, and she seemed to have plenty of get-up-and-go. She liked always to be on the move, scampering about, and we responded in kind. As soon as we could, we signed her up for baby swimming: another activity to add to the list, we thought; and it’s never too early to learn an important life skill.