just keep swimming!

We finished our first week of swimming lessons today!! Like I said before, Ashtyn is my little fishy!! As soon as we arrive at the pool Ash is eager to get in the water and even more eager to learn more about swimming!! He's been learning to float on his back and has also been learning different types of strokes!! I really think that by the end of lessons next week he'll either be swimming or very very close!!

Maddox on the other hand has had a bit of a rough week at swimming lessons. After a very rough first day at lessons he was a completely different kid on day two! He got right in the water and played all the little games with his teacher and classmates but then day three came...on that day his instructor tried to move on to floating and swimming on his belly but Maddox was a bit to afraid to try it. He's scared of just relaxing and letting his teacher help him float. On day three, he sobbed and sobbed and I did all the WRONG things and tried to bribe him with everything from a toy after lessons to ice cream but nothing worked. He simply wanted out of the pool! He's definitely a "work at my own pace" sorta kid. He's just not going to do something that he's not ready for. So...Wednesday evening I begged and bargained with Maddox and finally had him convinced to try floating on Thursday. But, when we arrived at lessons this morning and all the swim instructors lined up to gather their classes Maddox's teacher was nowhere to be found. Uh Oh! I walked up and asked one of the instructors and she said that Maddox's teacher was sick and that SHE would be filling in as a sub. Needless to say, Maddox wasn't too happy with the change. What can I say...??? Both my boys definitely inherited my fear of change and desperate need for consistency. (he he!) Anyway, Maddox broke down...

Fortunately, his substitute instructor was SOOOOO nice (in fact, I wish she was his full time instructor...shhhh!) and explained that her youngest daughter is the exact same way and she just went ahead and got in the pool and let me coerce Maddox in. After just a few moments of tears Maddox went into the pool and had alot of fun! He never floated on his tummy using the swim floaties but he did make progress and tried some things he wouldn't the day before! Yeah Maddox! Hopefully when lessons resume next week it'll have only helped Maddox gain confidence and not made him take steps backwards after the weekend break. Sigh. Raising kids isn't easy. Who woulda thought that something as simple as swimming lessons could turn into consoling your sobbing 3-year-old and doing more parenting in 10 minutes then you do the rest of the day!? Sigh.