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Swim Lessons Day 1)
Noah had his 3rd swim lesson yesterday, and it was a little better than last week. Last week started off with Noah saying "I no like swimmin'. Make me sad" at lunch. So I did not have high hopes for the lesson that day. Which is good because Noah did not disappoint. He woke up from his nap, and I already had his feel-good treat ready (Gummies...he gets gummies during hair-cuts and other rare moments. And also sometimes at restaurants so Mommy and Daddy can finish their meal in relative peace.) He thought it was his lucky day! Gummies in the afternoon for no apparent reason...score!
Then I busted out the bathing suit, and Noah calmly said..."I no go swimmin'." He continued to calmly say "no" (just no)-in between gummy bites-while I got him dressed and both boys loaded into the car. He continued to calmly say "No" the whole ride there. I talked with him about being brave and how sometimes we have to do things we don't like...blah, blah, blah...yada, yada, yada....mommy loves you, etc.
We got to swim school, and Noah calmly walked to the door. I had the fleeting thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad...Then, the second I touched the door knob to go inside, Noah's cry-and-scream switch flipped to on...and boy did he make his madness known... To everyone in the swim school, as well as random people walking by who I'm pretty sure thought a child was drowning from the way it sounded. Nope...just my child expressing himself...loudly.
He cried leading up to the lesson and throughout the lesson (except for maybe 5 or 10 minutes of the 30 minute class.) Apparently this is common because every parent in the room gave me a sympathetic look and said that her/his child went through the same thing. And to just give it time...usually a couple weeks. I thought, we'll see...
When the torture session, I mean swim lesson, was done, I went to the little changing room where the kids are brought after their lesson. Noah, who had screamed almost the entire lesson, came through the door and took one look at me, gave me a HUGE smile, and yelled "I DID IT!! I swim underwater! I do it by myself!" A huge wave of relief spread through me, and I smiled back at my proud son and gave him a HUGE hug. Maybe swim lessons aren't so bad. :)
The rest of the week, Noah would randomly say "I no go swimmin' today" to anyone who would listen. I dropped him off at preschool, "I no go swimmin' today" he says to Miss Cheryl his teacher. We're checking out at the grocery store, "I no go swimmin' today" he says to the check-out person. Random guy walking his dog down our street? Yep. You get the idea.
On Monday, I took him "fun" swimming with me so he would remember that swimming wasn't so bad. Thankfully, after some initial hesitation, he was back to his happy, swimmy self, jumping off the side into my arms after counting "1, 2, 3, 4!" (We told him he had to count before jumping in so we would know he was coming...sometimes he just keeps counting which makes me and others around us crack up.:))
Yesterday's lesson went pretty well, despite Noah saying "I no go swimmin' today" most of the day. He went willingly into the swim school, went potty like a big boy before the lesson, and walked right up to his instructor when his name was called. Granted, he took one look at Mr. Blayne (his instructor) and burst into tears, but they stopped soon after. :)
I'm glad we stuck with it, and I'm glad those other parents were right. It just takes time. Maybe someday soon, I'll be the mom giving sympathetic, been-there-before looks in another mom's direction. And hopefully, by that time, I'll be able to take both boys swimming without having to worry about Noah drowning. Always a plus. :)
Like my mommy and daddy do in me. :) 
