Jacks Swim Lessons... Day #3

So, for those of you that don't know, our little Jackson is quite terrified of the water. He always has been. Up until this past winter, he even had a hard time in the bath. The past 6 months he has slowly been getting better. He now LOVES his baths and the last time we went swimming he actually enjoyed it, as long as he was in his "boat". I had thought alot about swim lessons, but wanted him to be a little more comfortable in the water before I put him in a class with a bunch of other kids, while he kicks and screams and makes all the other kids do the same. But then, my sister-in-law, Jaime told me about this swim teacher that everyone refers to as "The Swim Nazi". She offers private lessons and supposedly your kid is swimming by then end of the 2 week course. Without much though I called and signed him up. I so badly want Jackson to at least feel comfortable in the water. And at least with a private lesson, I don't have to worry about making the other moms upset, right?

Monday was his first lesson... and oh my! She really is "The Swim Nazi"... it is probley the hardest thing I have ever had to watch Jack go through. And really, I didn't even watch much of it... I was looking down and away as much as I could because I could hardly stand to see him struggle. She took him right out and was bobbing him up and down, and letting go of him and making him grab the side of the pool, all the while his little arms are waving above water while his head is underneath... ahhhh! He of course screamed the whole time, any kid would when put through what he had just done. But he finished and even gave teh teacher a high-five when he was done, that's a good sign right?

Tuesday - can you believe I took him back? A little bit better. He swam across the pool with a kickboard, noodle, and fins (with her help, of course) and really enjoyed that - I think I even heard a little giggle come out of him. He was a little better at finding the side of the pool and pulling himself out. He jumped off the side off the pool with his teachers help. He floated on his back for 1 minute. He still cried for the entire 20 minute lesson, but it was a little better than Monday.

Wednesday - I am so proud of my little guy. He didn't cry out for me once! He still cried, but never once yelled for "mommy". He jumped off the side all by himself! He wore goggles, and looked so adorable in them! He is learning to flip to his back all by himself, and float comfortably on his own!

I am so proud of my little Jacks so far. He is hanging in there and growing each and every day. I am so glad that I put him into these lessons, I think this will really help him this summer. He will not only have more fun with it, but he will have confidence in himself.

Funny things about how he responds to swim lessons:

1. He hates putting his swimsuit and swim diaper on before we go because he knows what is coming. He always points to his other diapers and cries, "no, those ones".
2. The whole drive over he is absolutely silent in the car. And he is never silent in the car.
3. When we pull up to her house, he starts to cry. But then I tell him if he is good and doesn't cry then we will go get a sucker afterwards. It usually works until we go into the pool area.
4. He loves to watch all the other kids swim and point out what they are doing that he can do too.
5. After he is all done we stay and watch the next lesson so that he can see another little boy do it too. We talk about what the boy is doing and compare to what he did in his lesson. I ask him if he thinks the boy is having fun, he always says "yes". And then I ask if he had fun and suprisinly, he says, "yes".