Double success and The Disruptive Influence . . .

The B has earned his first swimming badge . . .

Correction: The B has earned his first two swimming badges. 

You see, with two sessions still remaining of his current round of classes, he has been deemed proficient enough to have passed both this stage and the one that (under normal circumstances, at least) follows it.

The result is that, in addition to skipping an entire level on the swimming ladder, he returned from the pool last night clutching two certificates and a brace of sew-on badges. He's feeling quite pleased with himself right now and with good reason. I'm also delighted that he has so impressed his instructor . . .

That said, the best bit for me has to be that The Disruptive Influence - a child bent on causing chaos and doing his utmost to distract the other children in the class at all opportunities - hasn't reached the same standard and, as a result, isn't going to be fast-tracked through the stages like The B and several other in-pool peers.

This is good because: 

1) His ill-discipline tends to rub off on the better-behaved children in the group.

2) I've been proven correct, having told The B on innumerable occasions that, because he always messes around so much, it's going to take The Disruptive Influence longer to learn to swim.

3) I don't like him.

Be it at soft play, in the school playground or at certain pre-school activities that The G and I enjoy, such children are often present, doing their best to spoil our fun; that The B has left The Disruptive Influence trailing in his wake is - to me, at least - worth far more than certificates and badges . . .