Swimming Lessons - Day 1

I signed Jase up for swimming lessons over a month ago and after talking with the swimming lesson man I decided to hold off on Ally because she still might be a little too young.  Well, after watching her in the pool a few times, she is really fearless (with her floaty on) in the pool and will even put her head underwater.  So, I called back and added her to the list.

I've been prepping the kids for swimming lessons and explaining to Allyson that I will not be in the pool and she will not be wearing her floaty.  She seemed to ok with it all.  We have been praying as a family the last few nights about lessons coming up and for God to calm their nerves.  Last year Jase had a rough start and cried at least 2 of the days.  He swam through the tears, but it was very emotional for him.  So, I was worried about him and Shawn was worried about Ally.

I get the kids up this morning and Jase is already crying.  :-(  He is scared and doesn't want to sink to the bottom of the pool.  Poor guy.  I explain to him that the teachers are there to keep him safe and Mommy will be by the pool too.  The crying goes on for probably 20 minutes.  We say a prayer and get in the car and head over there.  On the way he watches 2 videos of him from last year swimming, I am hoping this will pep him up for the lesson and it did.  I asked if he wanted to call and talk to Daddy and he said no.  As soon as we pull up to the house his anxiety sets in and the tears start flowing again.  I reassured him he would be fine and that was enough crying.  He stopped before we got out of the car.

We get to the backyard and he does fabulous! They sit by the edge of the pool and wait for instructions and listen to the rules.

The instructors work with the kids and group them according to their current swimming level.  Jase ended up in the most advanced group and was doing awesome.  Here is a clip of him swimming for the first time this morning.

Allyson on the other hand, she was not a fan.  You can actually hear her crying a little in this video.  She worked one-on-one with an instructor and also screamed and cried the entire hour!!  At one point I went over to the instructor and asked if this was a lost cause this year.  She said that she was a little young, but did not mind working with her.  I told Allyson to be nice . . . she can get a little feisty!! The instructor suggested maybe if I go to the driveway where she could not see me, it might be better.  The screaming continued.  I would peek around the corner every so often to check on her and she was putting her head in the water on her own and was holding onto the instructor's hands and gliding through the water.  She would do this for 2-3 seconds at a time.  Every time she would come up for a breath, she would cry for me, Jase, or Daddy.  :-(  I stood out in the driveway for probably 40 minutes of the lesson.  I came back in for the last few minutes to watch her.  Poor baby, her face was all puffy from crying.  As soon as she got out of the pool she was fine and told me "I put my face in the water and I was crying."

I felt bad for Jase too because I was unable to watch him the majority of the lesson, but from the 4 or so times he swam at the end, he was doing great jumping in and swimming on his own.  I asked Allyson if she was going back to swimming lessons tomorrow and she said yes.  We shall see.  I do know that I will be bringing a chair for the driveway and pray that my little girl does better tomorrow.