Swimming and Other Lessons Learned

Starting in February, we enrolled Jackson in swim lessons at our local YMCA. Jason and I both grew up knowing how to swim from very early ages. My parents put a pool in our backyard when I was 1, so I was always swimming during the summer months. We have not had the luxury of a pool, so teaching Jackson how to swim has been difficult. We're never near a pool long enough to get him past swimming a couple of feet to us. We decided that we couldn't delay any longer. We really want him to learn how to swim before this summer. Not only will he have a blast with it, but it could save his life.

I was excited for his first lesson (except for the timing...6:15-6:45 every T and TH, which makes it hard to eat before and too late to eat after) and thought he would be too. When the day arrived, he did not want to go. (He actually had to miss the first lesson because he was sick; but, it was canceled due to bad weather so he didn't miss out after all.) We tried to pump him up but he was no happy about going. We made him go anyway. I'll confess that it was hard for me. I teetered between not wanting to push him in an area he's not interested in because I felt like I was heading for an uphill battle and wanting to push him because he needs to be prepared to stand behind his commitments even when he doesn't feel like it. I'll also confess that I wasn't excited about the time of the class and how hard it was going to be on our schedule. Wow! I'm already a wimp. This is nothing compared to what's ahead when we have three children involved in activities!!

Jason said that Jackson had to go, so that made the decision easy! When we got there, he barely spoke a word. He wouldn't really talk to his coach and he wasn't interested in participating. Even at the end when they got to jump in the water, he wasn't thrilled. And this is coming from the boy who jumped in my parents' pool hundreds of times in July. I didn't worry too much about it. When he started gymnastics in Oklahoma, he acted like he could barely use words. By the second class, Coach Sam couldn't keep him quiet.
He agreed to jump...

but it was a very timid jump...timid for Jackson.

You would think by the looks of it, that he was happy about it:

But he definitely was not:

And there was no convincing him to go for round 2:

I was so surprised by his behavior. Welcome to the world of understanding young children! Boy, do I have a long way to go. Why is that the grandparents have the knowledge when we are the ones needing it on a daily basis?! We have to learn through experience, just as they did, but once we figure it out, they're grown! I guess this is one way of guaranteeing that I keep on my knees with hands folded; otherwise, I'd be tempted to think that I can do it all on my own. And I know for sure that I cannot. It's nice to depend on the One who knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING! And He created Jackson, so He is definitely the one I need to be consulting.

His second class was almost humorous. I could hear his coach asking him to do something and Jackson would reply, "I can't." His coach would say, "Yes, you can." And then Jackson would say, "No, I can't!!" (And Jackson absolutely could. He should have been saying, "No, I won't!" because that was the reality of it.) They would go back and forth but his coach was so patient with him. I had told his coach after the last class not to let Jackson boss him around but to make him obey. I wanted him to know that I fully supported his efforts to make him participate.

He made a little progress with the next few classes. He willingly participated in everything but jumping. On his seventh class, they were practicing floating on their backs. Jackson didn't want to do it and said that he couldn't. His coach told him that he either had to float on his back or jump. He chose to float, with his floaty on, and he did it like he'd been doing it forever. Even with a floaty, he still had to relax his arms, legs and head.

His last class was a make-up class from the first canceled class and they had it on a Monday night. His coach, Andrew, wasn't able to be there. Jason took him because I was teaching a childbirth class. In the middle of my class, I got a call from Jason, "Jackson's coach isn't here and Jackson is refusing to go." Seriously! The coach he's argued with and wouldn't do much for the past four weeks?! We both agreed to make him go to his swim class. If he wasn't willing to participate, then Jason was going to throw him in the pool. Just kidding!!! Jason made him sit on the side of the pool and watch for the entire class time.

Tuesday night was the start of his second four week series. Coach Andrew was there and he was so happy. In fact, he wanted to swim on his own without floaties! I left my camera bag at home, but I did have my phone and managed to get a video clip.

I was so proud of him! He's swam on his own like this before, but it was always toward the end of our time near a pool so he never got past this stage.

I know that his behavior over the past four weeks is typical of children and that we don't need to make a big deal out of it. Even though it might sound like it, we honestly didn't make that big of a deal out of it. It was hard because I knew he could do everything he was being asked to do, but we just let him do what he was willing to do each week and encouraged him through the process. Our main concern was the lessons he is learning. We want him to understand what commitment is. We want him to learn that circumstances won't always be exactly what he wants them to be, but that doesn't mean he can quit or choose not to participate. I'm glad we stuck this out with him. He loves it now and looks forward to going every week. Lots of lessons were learned from this experience - for child and parent!