Swimming and floats
I am always proud of my kids.
However, there are just these special moments that stick out in my mind as a parent. Yesterday evening was one of those.
I spend a lot of time swimming, and over the years, I've taken Michael to the pool. I am a decent swimmer, so I figured I could teach Michael by myself.
It's been a struggle. This year, I finally realized that I had to get him into Swim Lessons.
However, he just wasn't pushing himself, and would fight when I tried to get him to learn to swim.
It's the same problem I've had in teaching him how to write. Obviously, I know my "ABCs" and how to write the letters. However, I could never teach him. He wouldn't listen, wouldn't pay attention, fought learning, etc.
He's in school 2 days a week now, and he writes beautiful letters at this point. They're all CAPS, but they look great. I'd assume the teacher is also going to start them on lowercase letters at some point.
As a parent, I never would have been able to teach him myself. He just does what the teacher tells him, when he's in a classroom with other kids who are learning and writing, he will focus, learn and write as well.
Same thing with swimming. When I was trying to teach him, he would NEVER put his head under the water. He would DEMAND his inflatable innertube (which is a big impediment to learning to swim).
I started Michael in swim lessons with a very nice woman named Ms. Susan.
Michael has been in swim lessons with Ms. Susan for about 3 weeks now.
He's fought it, but I see tremendous improvement. Last night I took him to the pool and asked him if we could practice what Ms. Susan taught him, T-Float, X-Float, Y-Float.
He refused, ran out of the pool, and stared at me furiously and yelled "I DON'T WANT TO DO T-FLOAT!!!"
Eventually, he finally gave in and tried it. He had a great time, and kept wanting to float, just like Ms. Susan taught him. He was smiling and laughing the whole time, and wanted to stay at the pool all night.
He's practically floating on his own. I just put one hand (a few fingers actually) on the back of his head to prop him up. I kept reducing how much I was holding him up ... started with 2 hands cupping the back of his head, ended up with 1 hand on the back of his head, then a few fingers on the back of his head.
Thought about just letting go my hand altogether. I'm sure he'll float just fine by himself. However, I didn't want to set off any sort of panic, especially since he was doing so well.
His ears were completely underwater and part of his head, except his face, just like a classic backfloat. The coolest thing was he was COMPLETELY RELAXED. No fear, no discomfort about the water level around his head, nothing. Not tense in the slightest bit. Just the same kind of relaxed that he has when he's laying in bed.
I thought that was the coolest thing and a great sign that he'll be a good swimmer. No fear/concern about the water.
However, there are just these special moments that stick out in my mind as a parent. Yesterday evening was one of those.
I spend a lot of time swimming, and over the years, I've taken Michael to the pool. I am a decent swimmer, so I figured I could teach Michael by myself.
It's been a struggle. This year, I finally realized that I had to get him into Swim Lessons.
However, he just wasn't pushing himself, and would fight when I tried to get him to learn to swim.
It's the same problem I've had in teaching him how to write. Obviously, I know my "ABCs" and how to write the letters. However, I could never teach him. He wouldn't listen, wouldn't pay attention, fought learning, etc.
He's in school 2 days a week now, and he writes beautiful letters at this point. They're all CAPS, but they look great. I'd assume the teacher is also going to start them on lowercase letters at some point.
As a parent, I never would have been able to teach him myself. He just does what the teacher tells him, when he's in a classroom with other kids who are learning and writing, he will focus, learn and write as well.
Same thing with swimming. When I was trying to teach him, he would NEVER put his head under the water. He would DEMAND his inflatable innertube (which is a big impediment to learning to swim).
I started Michael in swim lessons with a very nice woman named Ms. Susan.
Michael has been in swim lessons with Ms. Susan for about 3 weeks now.
He's fought it, but I see tremendous improvement. Last night I took him to the pool and asked him if we could practice what Ms. Susan taught him, T-Float, X-Float, Y-Float.
He refused, ran out of the pool, and stared at me furiously and yelled "I DON'T WANT TO DO T-FLOAT!!!"
Eventually, he finally gave in and tried it. He had a great time, and kept wanting to float, just like Ms. Susan taught him. He was smiling and laughing the whole time, and wanted to stay at the pool all night.
He's practically floating on his own. I just put one hand (a few fingers actually) on the back of his head to prop him up. I kept reducing how much I was holding him up ... started with 2 hands cupping the back of his head, ended up with 1 hand on the back of his head, then a few fingers on the back of his head.
Thought about just letting go my hand altogether. I'm sure he'll float just fine by himself. However, I didn't want to set off any sort of panic, especially since he was doing so well.
His ears were completely underwater and part of his head, except his face, just like a classic backfloat. The coolest thing was he was COMPLETELY RELAXED. No fear, no discomfort about the water level around his head, nothing. Not tense in the slightest bit. Just the same kind of relaxed that he has when he's laying in bed.
I thought that was the coolest thing and a great sign that he'll be a good swimmer. No fear/concern about the water.
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