Maximus vs. the pool

Maximus is two weeks into a parent tot swim class. {Cute play on words, huh?} The age range for the class is six months to three years. If it didn’t cost double, I’d put Quinten in it too. But, it does, so he’s going to have to be satisfied with the bath tub. (And he is. He loves the bath tub.)

I wanted to enroll in the class because it was the last time parents could be in the water with the children and I really didn’t think Maximus would be ok with us watching from the side. Since I pushed for the class, I’m the parent taking him. Well, week one was successful but not exactly good. It was only successful because we went to the class. He didn’t like it. He was scared and told me to take him out. About 35 times. I’m not exactly sure how he kept the tears away, but tears were the only thing he didn’t do. He clung to me the entire time and was not into the class at all. He barely talked to the teacher or his friend. Then the next day he asked if we had swimming lessons again. It was almost as if he had liked it. Toddlers are weird, right?

I anticipated week two to be just as trying. I rushed home to pick him up and tried to prepare him on the quick drive to the Y. I didn’t realize that Bryan had also been talking to him about it. My main goal was to convince him not to be scared and to trust that I wasn’t going to drop him in the pool. Otherwise, there is no teaching to him. It’s a little hard to kick or move your arms or blow bubbles if you’re busy clinging to your mom. I felt good about our conversation and hoped for the best while expecting him to be just as nervous. {It amazes me when we have actual conversations that go well. Like he’s a big kid.}

He did amazing! He talked to the teacher right away and helped her sing songs. He crawled along the pool in the zero depth area and tried blowing bubbles! His hair was wet before we even got into the big pool. We can barely wash his hair in the bath tub. He didn’t walk down the steps into the pool and he was a little nervous when we got in, but he sang the songs and splashed along to them. He was a completely different kid! He even worked on his back float and kicked too. Last week it took me 10 minutes to turn him around and then he was still holding on to my neck. He used a kickboard and had a lot of fun floating around the pool kicking his legs. He even practiced getting in and out of the pool. I had ahold of him, but once he bent his knees and jumped into the pool! Last week, I got him to get out once and then he wouldn’t get back in and I couldn’t get him to come within two feet of the pool!

I’m so proud of him! He got nervous once or twice but didn’t ask me to take him out. He talked to the teacher without me being the translator or urging him to answer. At the end of the class the teacher told him he did such a good job and he got really shy and turned away. It’s so neat to see him in a new situation like this. He’s been at the same daycare since he was a baby, so he doesn’t have a lot of experience meeting new adults who are also authority figures. I’m excited to see how much he grows over the next month. Last week, my only goal was to have him not freak out every time we got in deep water. Now, I’m thinking he might actually learn some things!

Some of the funny things he said about swimming lessons:

• “Mommy, are you going to wear your really tiny shirt? Why don’t I have a really tiny shirt?” My swimming suit.
• “Why did I listen to the teacher?”
• “Why did I do a good job?”
• “I’m going to get in and go under the water and swim.” To which I replied, “No you aren’t. You only get in the big pool with mommy or daddy. You don’t go under water.”
• “I’M SWIMMING!” He was crawling in the zero depth, but that’s ok!