I have been so conflicted about swimming lessons for my 3 year old….
Actually, 3 1/2 year old… I KNOW he needs to learn to swim. I KNOW the older he gets, the worse it is going to be. Yet, I am still struggling with it. Why you ask? Because I am a weenie! I hate to see my son scared of something at my expense… He loves the water, but despises putting his face in the water or even getting water splashed onto his face…. I took him to a friend’s house who is an ISR Instrctor. I wanted to see how he would react to her… He cried of course. He screamed of course… She took him from me and we just played a little game of passing him back and forth in the water, each time getting his face deeper and deeper. He didn’t mind that so much because he was going to me. Then she took him to the other side of the pool while I watched and had him completely under and then grabbing the side of the pool and pulling himself up. He screamed every time. Said I don’t want to go under the water. Broke my heart. But the instructor was persistant and kept doing it. Told him to stop crying because if he didn’t, he would get water in his mouth. All I wanted to do was run over and hug him and kiss him, as I am sure any mother would want to do. But I didn’t. I stayed on the stairs and clapped. I had dark sunglasses on so he didn’t see me crying….
Afterwards, she handed him over to me, he cried for a minute and told me again how he didn’t want to go under the water and then that was that. He walked around the pool, dangled his feet in and said he just wanted to stay on the steps. Not tramatized as far as I can tell. She said it wasn’t fear that was keeping him from going under because he wasn’t grasping his arms and legs around her. It was just simply that he didn’t want to. My son is VERY strong willed. Can’t IMAGINE where he gets that from. Anyway, I am so thankful for Melissa putting up with me and my freak outs. It was very kind of her to allow me to drop by her house for a few minutes to ease my mind…. Now, on to the official waiting list until the swim lessons start! Whoever reads this blog, if anyone, please pray… No one likes to see their child crying.
It is heartbreaking! But as a parent, I need to “suck it up” and deal……….. Everyone has to learn how to swim some time!!! 🙂
