Swim Lessons...

plugging her noise about to go under with the teacher saying 1, 2, 3...

So Everlea started swim lessons last week at the gym I go to. It's a great deal, $25 for a 4 week session, 2 x's a week for 1/2 hr. I was all excited last Tues., it being her first lesson. I knew she was nervous and would repeatedly say things like "I can't go to swim lessons, Mama, I can't even swim" hee hee. I tried to be patient and reassuring, thinking she'd be OK once we got there. I also assumed it was a child/parent thing, I'm not sure why I did, but it wasn't, it was parents stay to the side while your child has his/her lesson. That suited me fine actually, because I know she does better with other teachers than with me when it comes to something like that. Well, that first lesson was a nightmare! Everlea pretty much cried almost the entire time, would call/yell for me over and over again (meanwhile I'm trying to watch and hide behind other parents so she wouldn't see me). The whole thing did seem a little odd to me as she loved the outdoor pool at our subdivision this summer so I knew it wasn't a fear of the water. I figured out that a big part of the problem was she was cold (her little body lacks little to no body fat) as well as being nervous (thinking she was going to be made to do something that scared her), so she was shaking like a leaf and her little teeth were rapidly chattering the whole time. Needless to say we left there, with both of us emotionally drained. She from crying, and me from a mix of frustration, embarrassment, etc. It was one of those rare moments that I told her that I was too upset to talk about it and I wanted a quiet car ride home. So yah not one of our shining mother/daughter moments. When we got home I made her go in her room to quietly read some books or color while I just sat until Ran came home about 15 min. later, and he could feel the tension in the household from his two girls. :)

After awhile she was playing quietly in the living room and as I was watching her and I started to feel a little remorseful. It was a new experience for her and I could have been a little more sympathetic. I called her up on my lap and we had a good heart to heart little chat which ended with hugs and kisses and an agreement from her to give it another try.

One of the main points of our little talk was about being brave. I told her that being brave means that we do things that seem scary but we do them anyway (something along those lines).

Well Thursday rolls around for swim lesson number #2. I could tell the nervousness was starting to kick in again and when I sat her down to begin the lesson she started to cry. Great! I thought lesson 2 would be a repeat of number 1. But, as I walked away and blended into the background she stopped crying and the rest of the lesson went great. A few changes we tried this time were that I picked out a few little rewards for each week of lessons she completes, and instead of just telling her what they were, I showed her the first one, a little princess movie (it was good motivation, as she loves these specific line of movies). Also, I got her a one piece speedo outfit, until the neoprene Warm Belly Wetsuit thing I got for a great deal on ebay comes in the mail. Both things seemed to help a little, and she was a trooper. She went on her back without crying, and she even went completely under water with the teacher...both big milestones... and the best part when it was all done she said that was so much fun! (both her female and male teachers have been really good with her). Also, I was able to be visible the majority of the class and she was Ok with seeing me (our first lesson she cried worse when she saw me). So yay, we were both able to walk out of there with big smiles on our faces!

The video is a little running race they did through the pool at the end of the class. My little competitive girl (hmm wonder where she got that from! hee hee) was ahead of the pack and kept checking back to see her status. When she got to the end she looks at me and yells "Mama I won I won!" Somehow I think she took the race a little more seriously than the other kids did. lol.

Anyways, tomorrow is lesson number 3, and we'll see how it goes! :)