How about that? Sam can swim! No, he does not have a beautiful, competition-ready stroke. No, he can not get in the pool unattended. But YES, he can get himself across the pool, face in the water, safely to the other side. Yes, he can swim to the bottom of the pool to retrieve a toy. Yes, he can float on his back. Yes, he can turn from his stomach to his back when he needs a breath. Yes, he can jump off the side and swim to the wall. Yes, he can do a somersault in the water. Yes, he can dive. Wait, he just thinks he can. Fortunately he thinks belly flops are fun.
These are large accomplishments for the boy. At the end of last summer's swim lessons he could move around the pool as long as he was firmly attached to his noddle. Take the noodle away and he was once again helpless. He had little confidence under the water, preferred to swim with his head above. He never really got the hang of the arms. He would NOT float on his back. He was capable, but something wasn't clicking.
This year we signed up with Houston Swim Club. I'd seen success with friends in the past, and I am now 100% sold on their methodology of teaching small people to swim. You can watch a video on their website that explains how it works, but the gist of it is this: they ring a bell and your kid walks through a door to a pool area where he meets a teacher that you've never spoken to. He takes a class while you watch through one-way glass (the kids can't see you) until they deposit your child at the exit door, lollipop in hand, 30 minutes later.
Our first day was probably the busiest day I have ever seen at this place - loud, dark, and crowded in the observation room, the boy was visibly nervous. I encouraged and comforted and explained and nearly cried myself when I showed him to the door. Then I almost broke protocol and went in after him when he slipped past a lifeguard and went the wrong way around the pool, unable to find his class. He looked lost and scared. Finally a guard scooped him up and carried him to the right spot, and he was fine from there on.
Sam is two months into his lessons and he earned his Guppy and Goldfish ribbons, earning him a place in a Dolphin class. ("I'm a dolphin now, so I can dive!" <
I would be amiss if I did not note that there is, of course, added motivation and opportunity for Sam this year: our back yard pool. While I'm sure he would have made progress in the program regardless, swimming every day certainly helped. In fact, I can point to one single day in our pool as the one where Sam learned to swim. It was a Saturday, and he told me that he wanted to try himself. He made a conscious decision to put into practice all that he had learned at his lessons. It was the first time he said he could do it without me in the water, and he did. I can't wait to see where he goes from here!
We have yet to start lessons for the little lady, mostly because I can't decide which kind I want to do. There are mommy and me options (not sure you get anything out of these), and the kind where they teach your baby how to back float (some great successes, but also some seriously traumatized children). Even without lessons, we suddenly have a second water lover on our hands.
I think something clicked for Annabelle on vacation. She spent a great deal of time hanging out in the tide pools during low tide and she grew rather confident playing around in 6-12 inches of water. She even demonstrated her ability to blow bubbles in the water - a skill learned 100% through observation as no one in the house had ever thought to teach her!
Gone are my days of allowing Sam to swim while Annabelle and I hang on the side. She displays a growing amount of displeasure they longer he is in and she is not. She likes to "jump" off the side and "fall" off the step. She likes to motor around the pool. She does not mind at all being dunked under water. She giggles constantly.
She can't actually do anything, of course, but it is a true joy to watch her have so much fun.
So the backyard pool? Probably the best decision we made in purchasing a new home. Yesterday i asked Sam, "Do you want to move to a house without a pool?"
"NO! Why would you say that?!"
No comments:
Post a Comment