Swimming lessons: week 2

So week 2 went pretty much how week 1 went:  there was a lot of screaming and crying involved, and slightly less barfing afterward.  However, I could see definite improvements after 8 lessons.  Laney swam half the length of the lap pool using the swim-float-swim method.  She can finally turn herself over to her back to get a breath, and then flip back to her tummy to continue swimming.

This week we made Liam swim first each day because he hates swimming.  He begins to cry in the parking lot after he has figured out where we are and continues crying right through getting dressed and into the pool.  He cries every time he comes up for air while swimming and cries while being toweled off and changed after swimming.  By the time that Laney is done with her lesson he is fine and even smiling and waving at his instructors.  They tell me that he doesn't like swimming because learning to swim is hard work.  I think he doesn't like swimming because he is Liam and he has the disposition of a cantankerous old man.

Laney took a different approach to trying to get out of swimming each day:  bargaining.  She would sit in my lap wrapped in a towel nervously asking if Liam was done every minute or so.  When it came time to get him out of the pool she would cry and slowly back away from the pool while asking her instructors if she could just swim a few times and then get out.  She would only go towards the pool once they agreed with her, even though they had no intention of letting her have her way.  She would cry and fuss on the first few swims and then would get down to work and even smile.  Still, she would report daily that her favorite part of swim class was "getting out of the pool."

This past weekend, things changed for her.  We took her to Shesh's house for some "fun swimming" as Laney puts it and she became a fish.  She discovered that she can do all of the things she has been working on and that she enjoys them!  Laney swam for 1.5 hours each day going back and forth across the Jacuzzi and the shallow end.  It was hard to get her out of the pool, and when I did she kept complaining that it was "froggy" in the house.  Translation:  she had a lot of pool water in her eyes and everything looked foggy to her.  That is a lot of swimming.

Today's lesson went very well too.  We brought her special "magic bathing suit" from Shesh's house and she had a ball at class, smiling the whole time and swim-float-swimming the entire length of the pool.  I was so proud standing there on the decking {with Liam howling in my ear} watching her discover how good she is at swimming.  Ah, how the littlest things can make your whole day!  Hopefully Liam can discover how much he likes to swim soon.