swimming lessons

Charlie & Levi are both doing swimming lessons for 2 weeks. This is Charlie's first time doing lessons without a parent & Levi's first time doing formal lessons.  Prior to signing them up, I had this gut feeling that Charlie would refuse to participate, as is the case with pretty much every new thing he tries. He is stubborn and it takes him awhile to decide he will survive whatever it is.  I told him I would not be signing him up for swimming lessons and spending the money & time if he was going to act like that there too. He told me he would do them.  It's so frustrating knowing that he will likely have fun if he would just try, but we have been through this with preschool, sunday school, community ed and pretty much every new thing he's ever tried!!!

That being said, he was pumped about swimming. The first night it started lightening within minutes of arriving, followed by a downpour so they were cancelled. The next night he actually jumped right in & I was shocked since I was expecting a battle.  Well, that lasted only a few minutes and then something got him wound up & he freaked out. Since the teacher had another kid too, there wasn't much I could do about it but basically let him sit on the side & do his moaning whine for the rest of the time (and through all of Levi's lesson).  The next night he refused to even get in the pool. They had an extra teacher on hand & said they would split him up so he could be 1-1 & were trying to be helpful offering to take him into the zero-depth pool, etc to get him comfortable. I told them that he was definitely not afraid of the water, he was just being stubborn.  I told the instructor that if he didn't mind listening to him whine for 15 minutes, I would just put him in the water. I felt kind of mean doing it, but really, I knew it was just a battle of wills.  So that's what we did. I dropped him in the pool & at that point he didn't have much choice.  The teacher tried to get him warmed up but he was just pouting the rest of the time. The next night he got in the water right away (because he knew otherwise I'd just put him in there) and spent maybe 5 minutes pouting. All of a sudden he flipped a switch and decided he LOVED swimming lessons. Since then, he has been the loudest, most obnoxious kid in the pool. On the 4th day, the teacher took him down the really big slide & from there on out he was definitely sold.  

It is so crazy how much his swimming has improved since last summer & just how fast he picks up on everything. On Monday lessons were cancelled again, this time due to the cold temperatures (thank goodness, I was NOT going into the cold water with Levi!) & by Tuesday night he was jumping off the diving board. He also loves the extra 1/2 hour he gets at the end during Levi's lessons to play at the pool with dad. I am so impressed with the number of young teachers they have & how well they handle the kids. Charlie's teacher is 16 and he just does so good with him. 

The little diving board didn't stress me out but the next night he decided to try the high board. That one freaked me out a little bit more & I was definitely holding my breath the whole time. He did just fine but once was enough for him, he went back to the little one after that, lol.  After that, his teacher asked if he could take him down the big slide. I was like "uhh, you just let him jump off the high board by himself, I'm pretty sure he can go down the slide with you!"

Levi also is having a blast with his lessons and we didn't have the initial battle since he's in a parent/child class.  His only issue is that Mr. Independent wants to do everything by himself. It's a good workout fighting him the entire time & trying to get him to do what is being asked of him. His favorite part is definitely jumping in & going down the slide at the end.  At first I thought he was a way better listener than Charlie was in the water at that age, but by the end of day 2 he was constantly telling me "don't hold me!" and "do it myself!" He gets his fun time swimming & going down the slide with dad during Charlie's lessons.  It's kind of annoying that they can't be at the same time but it has worked out just fine & they get to each spend some 1-1 time with Erik. I happily pull the pregnant card daily so that I don't have to trek up the stairs to the big slide a dozen times. 

Last week Erik was out of town one night & they agreed to do Charlie's lesson at the same time as Levi but something got mixed up so Charlie ended up just hanging out with the toddler class. He was so proud as the teacher kept asking him to show the "little kids" how to do everything. He was such a good little assistant.

Since it's kind of a hike, it's usually 7:15 by the time we get home. We have been doing supper after because otherwise supper would be wayyyy too early (& I like Charlie to go on a very empty stomach to avoid throwing up in the pool...) so it gets late on us pretty fast. Luckily after all of that swimming they usually are more than ready to get to bed.  

We missed 2 nights because of weather so we have 2 make up days this week. However, they have both been given their sheets already & they both passed!