About two months ago, I signed the girls up for swim lessons through the Burbank Parks and Rec department. I am finally able to put Lana in a class by herself, well without me in the water anyway, and Sonya has been old enough for some time. I signed Georgia up for a "Mommy and Me" class. Sonya and Lana are in the same level one class. I knew from the beginning that this would most likely not go well. If you haven't realized by now, my girls are not the type to" jump in with both feet" to do anything. A pool is no exception, so I was pretty sure this was going to be a tough time.
Sonya began proving my point this morning, when she started to get a pouty look on her face about a half hour before we had to leave. I tried everything from, "there's nothing to be afraid of", to "there are instructors there to help you", and "I used to get nervous about swim lessons myself." All being totally true. I can remember every year taking swim lessons, as a kid, and feeling like I was going to throw up at the beginning of each session. Then I learned what we would have to do and began to relax and have fun. As you can see, the apple did not fall far. Lana and Georgia didn't seem to care, which made sense, since they didn't really understand yet what we were doing. Oh but they soon would...
We got to the pool and the other classes were still in the water. Sonya got even more quiet and nervous. I continued to try and reassure her, but it didn't seem to be working. Lana, however, was ready to dive in the minute she saw the pool. I put sunblock on all of them and Lana continued to beg me to get in the pool. I told her we had to wait until it was our turn and that there were other kids still doing their lesson. Sonya would have been fine waiting until they closed the pool in September, but Lana wanted in RIGHT NOW! Georgia just watched and waited to and see what was going to happen, and who to take her cue from.
Finally, the other class was over and it was their turn. The time had come for them to get in the water. Sonya was hesitant, but managed to make her way over to the wall where all the kids in class stood and clung to the side. Lana eagerly entered the water. Then after placing one foot on the steps, she immediately changed her mind about wanting to get in at all. Still, the instructors managed to get her over to the wall and sat her on the ledge. She looked back at me with that, "I'm all done with this, can I please get out now" look. I encouraged her to do what sissy was doing. She responded by whimpering and threatening tears. I tried my best to ignore this.
Then the lesson began. They started by holding on to the wall and kicking their legs behind them fast then slow. Sonya tried this and eventually got into it, but as soon as Lana got the first splashes of water on her, she jumped up from the ledge and out of the pool, running over to me crying. Yes I have THAT kid. I spent the next 25 minutes of class promising her anything to get her back in the pool. That girl is so damn stubborn though, and no amount of ice cream, Mickey, candy or ponies was getting her back in the water. Great. So we sat on the edge watching everyone else while she whined about not wanting to get back in, and I pleaded with her to try, if even for a minute. I did manage to sit her back on the ledge and put her feet in the water. Then she even play splashed one of the instructors. This was the last two minutes of class, but at least she was in! Sort of.
The good news was, Sonya warmed up to it and allowed the instructors to help her try the things they were teaching. She was still nervous and scared, but she did everything, including jumping into the pool in the end. Well the instructor was there to catch her, but still. Then she got out out of the water and declared,
"That was fun!! I can't wait to come back and do it again tomorrow!" I'm just hoping this sentiment holds until then.
After their class we moved to the other side of the pool where Sonya and Lana sat and ate snacks, while I took Georgia into the water for her class. Lana was totally fine at this point and promised me tomorrow she would go in the water and do better. Uh-huh. Just like I was going to get that pony I promised her if she would just get back in the water to begin with.
Georgia wasn't too excited about swimming either. I'm sure her sisters being so enthusiastic didn't help matters. She cried for about the first five minutes of her class. Luckily I was in the water with her, so it was easier to convince her it was fun when I started to spin her around. I think her problem was the initial chill of the water, which wasn't really that bad, after we got used to it. By the end of her class we were singing songs and dancing in the water and she was having a great time.
Now according to all of them, tomorrow they will all be eager and happy to get back in the water and learn to swim. My question is do they realize that tomorrow is just a day away, or do they think it's some far off time they don't have to worry about for a while? Since they've never seen Annie, I'm guessing they don't know just how close tomorrow is. Unfortunately I do, and now I'M dreading it. Along with the rest of these next two weeks. Classes aren't done until next Thursday. Yay.
I think we might just end up with a pony by then.
1 comment:
I think they'll start to love it. My kids were skeptical too but now they're both little fish! Good luck!
-BADK
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