After two sessions of swimming lessons, Ben finally conquered his fear of putting his face in the water and learned to float on his front and back. Hooray!
The first set of lessons was a bust because his teacher just let the kids play the whole time and didn't actually help them float or make them put their faces in the water. I'm not typically a diva mom and understand there are lots of kids to teach, but after three days of this, I finally went to the instructors and asked if they could please focus on helping him float, whether with kickboards, noodles, holding him up, ANYTHING!!! Nothing changed and I was really frustrated by the end of the week. But besides the shocking lack of instruction, much of it also had to do with the power struggle between my desire for Ben to learn to swim and his desire to game the system. If the teachers said to do bobs, he'd wait until they went underwater and then only go in up to his neck. If they said to float on his tummy, he'd just kind of walk forward and fall into the water, never putting his face in. I wanted to strangle him.
Our parks and rec department is very strict about only allowing each child one set of lessons per summer because of high demand. But I took a chance and went in to ask for a second lesson, happy to pay for more. They at first denied my request, but when I explained my dissatisfaction with the first week, they let us in and actually didn't charge us for the second round. This week the teachers were great and he made tons of progress. It didn't hurt that I resorted to bribery on the third day - a set of Pokemon cards if he'd float. He'd conquered the back float on his own when we went to a waterpark the week before, but it was the front float that still bedeviled us. I knew he could do it, he was just choosing not to. Lo and behold, that day he did it! Today he happily swam with his friends at the Y pool, and even though he's still a bit timid, at least I know he won't drown.
Sadly, it took us six years to reach this milestone. Lucy is a major water baby and happily jumps off the side into the pool. My one-year-old niece is already in baby swim classes and my three-year-old niece has been swimming for two years now and is a little fish with her own goggles and swim cap. At least he won't be shown up by them when we see them next week when we get together for a family wedding. I don't know if Ben could bear the humiliation. Sometimes embarassment is also a good motivator.
Were you an early swimmer or are you still not a big fan of the water?
3 comments:
Go Ben! Also, I applaud your bribery. I can't tell you how many sweet things Kira, Kaylee, and I scored from swimming lesson bribery. It's a tried and true, superb parenting technique.
Yes, bribery has often graced the halls of our household. SO glad Ben conquered his fears. Congrats to you on pushing through and getting the second set of lessons. Totally worth it!
I still hate having water on my face, but I was swimming at age 3. Ethan likes to be held in the water to his waist but isn't a fan of anything else. Maybe we'll have to learn the bribery later?
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