Swim Lessons

This week Jacob began Level One Preschool Aquatics. The website says the Learning Objectives are: Enter and exit water using ladder, steps or side Blow bubbles through mouth and nose Submerge mouth, nose and eyes Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects Front and back glides and recover to a vertical position Back float and recover to a vertical position Roll from front to back and back to front Tread with arm and hand actions Experience wearing a life jacket in the water Learn how to stay safe in, on and around the water, including the use of a life jacket, recognizing lifeguards and sun safety Jacob has his own objectives. Climbing up and then sliding down the banister by the pool steps Staring off into the distance and singing the “Oh Doo Dah Day” song Stating loudly and repeatedly “I don’t do underwater” (To which know-it-all classmate Kaitlin says “You have to, that’s the whole point of swim lessons” ) Splashing know-it-all classmate Telling instructor “I want to learn to swim on just the top part of the water” Throwing a big fit and being placed into Time Out. Throwing Bigger Fit because he missed the rest of the lesson because of Big Fit #1 Throwing Bigger Still Fit because he didn’t want to get dressed (see fit #2) Throwing Massively Huge Fit because his t-shirt fell onto the wet floor during Fit #3. Sigh. Just between us, I really wanted to quit. There’s a big part of me that wonders if it is too soon, maybe he isn’t ready, why not wait, why push him to do something he emphatically states he does not wish to do? Why spend a happy summer evening being miserable? And then that selfish, petty part of me wonders why the other kids are having fun and my kid is in the bathroom crying? And I paid $55 for this? I want very much for him to learn to swim. He will be safer and have more fun at the pool and beach. He will gain confidence by overcoming fear. He will learn to respect the swim teacher’s authority. He will learn that “practice makes progress”. He will learn that we don’t quit just because something is hard. It’s not about swimming, it’s about life. So Thursday afternoon we went back for lesson 3 out of 6 in the session. We drug our feet a bit, but we went. If I know Jacob, it will be about lesson 5 before he gets into the swing of things. It isn’t so much that he doesn’t “do” underwater; it’s more that he doesn’t “do” New. If we keep at it, he’ll get it and by the end he will shine (or at least, maybe, dunk his head under!) Jacob is the Jacob that the Lord has made him to be, every bit of who he is was created according to God’s purpose and plan. I believe in him and I believe that God will grant me patience and wisdom to parent him. And that, Kaitlin, is really the whole point of swim lessons.