Some Old School Mommyblogging
Alexis is pretty fearless in a "WHERE IS MY MOMMY?" sort of way. I mean, I can talk her into doing anything, but she is going to do it while clinging to me so tightly that I'm certain she's trying to crawl back in my uterus.
Her fearless-with-mommy-thing extends to pretty much every part of her life. At Disney World, I continuously bribe her into riding Tower of Terror. She does it, but then leaves bruises on my arms and a lifetime supply of guilt in my heart (it's totally worth it). I can get her to try any foods, go through any experience, talk to any people, anything at all. She'll do it. I just have to be there to suffer through it with her.
That includes swimming, of course. She has always been willing to jump into the deep end of a pool, float around on a raft for hours, or just plain splash all day long. There's just one catch--she has to be able to cling to me like Saran Wrap clings to Saran Wrap.
The problem with that is that I suck at swimming. I swear there are concrete blocks embedded in my feet because I sink faster than the Titanic when I'm in a pool. I don't particularly like swimming since I suck at it, which always lands me in the pool with a kid clinging to me. That's how Murphy's Law works, after all. The kid loves to hang out in the pool. She insists that I hang out in the pool with her.
BLURGH.
There was only one possible solution to the dilemma and that was to turn into the Queen of Overcompensation by signing the kid up for swimming lessons. I figure that I suck at swimming because I didn't learn how to do it until I was a teenager. That's always a fun time to learn, you know. Nothing says "Joy" like struggling to learn to swim while your friends stand by getting paid to make sure you don't die because oh, did I mention that three of my friends in high school were lifeguards? Yeah. That was special. My mom once tried to sign 14-year old me up for a beginners swimming class with a bunch of six-year olds and I wouldn't do it because one of my friends was the instructor.
Queen of Overcompensation. Make Alexis learn to swim early.
So she started lessons back at the beginning of the summer. It was an off and on sort of thing that mostly consisted of a teenage girl telling her to shove her face in the water and blow bubbles. I can't say that she was really learning much, but she was having fun.
A LOT of fun.
The one thing that she did learn was that she learned to cling like Saran Wrap to someone besides me. Sometimes she even clung to the wall instead of a human! Woooo!
Then the fall sessions started and I figured we'd give it one more go (the sessions are six weeks long with one half-hour class per week--it's really not much of a time commitment). I didn't have high hopes of anything much happening. I predicted the kid would spend more time learning to kick while holding on to a wall and that she would blow some bubbles, but that she would end each class with a huge grin on her face. That's what she did the 10 other weeks she went to swimming classes.
Surprise, surprise! Instead of a teenage girl teaching the class, the Program Director was in charge this session. And WHAT THE WHAT? He actually knows how to teach kids. Like, he's goooooood.
Two weeks. It took him two weeks to pry the kid away from the safety of the wall and to have her swimming. By herself. In the deep end of the pool. BY HERSELF.
He did it by standing two feet in front of her and telling her she had to catch him if she wanted to hold on to somebody. He just kept backing up when she would get closer.
She still flails and flops around like a fish out of water when she's in the water, but she has the general idea. Alexis can swim. ALEXIS CAN SWIM.
And now I don't have to.
This growing up thing is pretty damn awesome if you ask me.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Reader Comments (11)
YAY! Way to go Alexis!
I need to get Kenz formally trained in swimming but have been reluctant to do so because between her ear issues (ANY amount of water = ear infection) and the annoyance issue (the closest pool is 20 miles either direction). Now that issue A is taken care of...I might have to suck it up for issue B. *sighs*
Best thing ever is the teach them when they are young for the very reason you mentioned. My kids had to learn to swim, ice skate, roller skate and downhill ski at least enough of each so they can participate with friends. Who wants to be learning stuff like tthat when your friends are already doing it and having fun?
Great job Alexis!
Woohoo Alexis!
Yeah! So glad she can swim while you can now sit back and relax. It stinks letting them go but, it’s so much fun watching them grow and learn and succeed!
YAY SWIMMING LESSONS! I made my niece learn how to swim that way this summer at the beach. Sorry, kid, I am not a buoy and you are not a barnacle. You wanna be out here with me? SWIM TO ME. And when she was swimming, amazingly she was unable to babble on and on until my brains melted out of my ears, nor could she giggle incessantly! GENIUS.
Swimming by themselves is the best thing ever. Well, besides chocolate cheesecake but that's beside the point. ;)
So glad she's doing it and loving it!!
Oh boy. I started teaching my boyfriend how to swim this past summer...
He's 26.
I, on the other hand, was just like your friends. Swim team throughout my childhood. Would be at the pool from open - close. It was t he best summers of my childhood.
I don't get the title of this post. So, being proud of your kid is "old school"? Why do moms feel that if they write about their children, they will be considered boring, or "just another mommy blogger"? Blogs are supposed to chronicle your life. Alexis is the most important part of that. Learning to swim is a big deal. I say talk about it all you want, and don't apologize for it.
That. Is. AWESOME! My dad did something similar. He never learned to swim, so each of us kids were forced to take lessons by the time we were 8 years old. Overcompensating? Maybe. But I am so thankful he did that. Sooooooo thankful. This thing you have done? it is very, VERY good.
Jen--I'm not really sure where the title has any sort of negative connotations? Or apology? It was a reference to the fact that I haven't written much about Alexis' accomplishments lately (for a variety of reasons, but top of the list is her privacy). It certainly wasn't intended to be any sort of apology.
That's awesome! I'm much more like you in the pool...I was swimming with Rachel in a pool (on our honeymoon? Vacation somewhere? I don't recall, but, anywho) and was treading water right beside her, trying a variety of techniques over a period of time, but managed to be sub-surface constantly. I'm buoyant, but my buoyancy is less than most - I hang out just low enough in the water to make certain I'd drown out in the deep on my own.
So, I just generally avoid water where I can't stand on the bottom and keep my head above the surface. Generally sucks for my family, but works for me!
Kudos to Alexis! May she remain above water forevermore! :-)