Big Mama Pride
August 28, 2010
Mimo took swimming lessons at the Community Center this summer, but wasn’t progressing much because he hated getting his face wet, and I didn’t push him, afraid that it would only worsen matters and turn him off to swimming entirely. I slowly realized that as his partner in the water, I was becoming his biggest impediment. How I dreaded the idea of dunking him against his will! But his swim teacher believed that he had all the skills necessary to swim, and that his reluctance was purely psychological. Totally understandable and normal, but also purely psychological– and not insurmountable.
So I brought the swim teacher in for private lessons, keeping myself out-of-the-way and watching the action secretly from the kitchen window. The first day was horrible. I’d pep-talked him as best I could, but finally there came the moment when I had to leave him alone with the teacher, and he was none too pleased. He cried virtually the entire time, and was screaming out for mommy. Heartbreaking. Lesson two was a bit better. He cried, but not as much. Then came our practice session together. First we played in the water for a while and then, to give him some notice, I said, “In two minutes we’re going to start practicing swimming.” He said, “Want to practice now.” I couldn’t believe it. So I thought we’d start with the “easier” stuff, the arm motions rather than the dunking but, no, he announced that he wanted to go straight to dunking. More disbelief.
Finally, at lesson three, though he was a little shaky and worried beforehand, as soon as he was in the water, he embraced it completely. No crying, no fighting it at all. He swam to the wall and back many times from the distance of four or five feet. I’m amazed by his bravery and his rapid progress. I didn’t realize how much we was capable of, and I’m so impressed.
He also has an amazing swim teacher. Here they are:
I promised him that when he gets back from Daddy’s, we’ll go for a night swim. That’s going to be great!
