Swim Lessons

 

 

We started up swim lessons at the beginning of February. The community swim program is fabulous. Heather, the swim teacher/coach, is so patient and diligent. Three years ago, Elsa was terrified of going under water. Now she can swim the whole length of the pool and back. She has great strokes in the freestyle and backstroke, and is learning the butterfly. I don't even have those skills. Since we are moving to California, I've felt an even more pressing need to have Ava swimming. She is an enigma to me. This is a girl that will water ski behind a boat and drop into a lake, but swimming in a pool terrifies her. I know a part of this fear stems from an incident last summer when she jumped into the pool thinking she had on her life jacket. I was unloading the car and wasn't there. Fortunately, another mother was right there and grabbed her out. This incident happened at the beginning of the summer. It took over three months for her to just get the courage to get back into the pool. Ava hasn't really wanted to learn to swim, but I've totally forced it. She started out kicking and screaming, trying to escape the pool. I was always standing by making her return. I succumbed to petty bribery too! Each lesson, Heather would calmly urge Ava through the screaming and tears. The March session ended last week. Ava was on the verge of getting it. Heather asked if she could spend this week one-on-one with Ava to make sure she learned the basics. She was successful. Ava will now bob under water, float on her back, and is getting comfortable pushing off from the side of the pool. She still likes to have a noodle under her stomach for swimming. Regardless, this is a huge improvement. I am so grateful to Heather. Now I can work with Ava once we get settled. Yeah.

I had to include this picture of Greta because this is typical life for her. She is carted around from carpools, lessons, and play dates. Every Monday and Wednesday, I pack up Ava and Greta (usually waking her from her morning nap, half-dressed and in a soggy diaper), and pick up Elsa, Addison, and Max from kindergarten. Then I take all five into swim lessons with me. Max plays on the mats, and Elsa and Addison head to the locker room to change into swimsuits and get into the water. I am usually preoccupied with forcing Ava back into the pool, and Greta is left to fend for herself. Usually she gets a few Cheerios thrown at her to sadly suffice as lunch. She crawls around the pool and pulls herself up to the seats begging for attention. If I think about it all, I get disgusted. The floors have smashed food, dirt, crumbs, and ants crawling all over. Greta is learning to take what she can get! I hope I can compensate for this year of negligence or is this a pattern that will keep repeating?