Sunday, August 28, 2011

Well, That Didn't Work Out as Planned

A couple weekends ago, we had an end-of-the-season BBQ with the softball folks.  A family friend usually hosts these BBQs at her house because she has a big pool.  This year, Carter was all about the swimming- as he is with every single pool, lake, river or body of water he comes across.  So Cyndi, our family friend, suggested that Carter take private swimming lessons with her.  She has been teaching swimming lessons for 30 years now, and we were certain that Carter was ready.  So we made arrangements to be at her house every evening after work, to cram in the lessons before we headed out on vacation.  The first lesson was wonderful!

Doing a tummy float for 10 seconds


 Waiting his turn while the other boy learned.

 Doing back floats - which was huge because he HATES to float on his back.


 Kicking
 And doing a sitting dive into the water, to glide into a tummy float.
And after the first lesson, it all went to hell.  We're not sure what happened, but he suddenly claimed to be scared of the water, and that the water was hurting him.  Both of which we KNEW were not true because the kid is a fish in the water.  He would spend every waking moment swimming if we let him. So the second lesson was somewhat productive, though he stopped listening to Cyndi - at which point, we pulled him out of the water and took him home.  He pulled the same stunt the third lesson, which we also cut short.  And the fourth lesson, last night, was the final straw.  He was literally screaming bloody murder, and to the point where he was about to hyperventilate.  It was AWFUL.  So Cyndi and I had a talk, and decided it was probably best for everyone if we just discontinue the lessons for now, and pick them up at another time when Carter is feeling a little more ready to learn.

I'm quite confused as to what happened because Carter LOVES the water.  But he has himself convinced that swimming is the devil right now, so there's no point in making him miserable or pushing the issue to where he actually does develop a fear of water.

So, until the time is right.....no more swimming lessons.  :(

2 comments:

♥Jacqueline said...

:( That really sucks! Hopefully he will want to pick it up again soon! I'm sure once the vacay comes, he'll love it again ;)

CreativeMish said...

Ornery little turd! He'll eventually decide it's ok