It didn't take long for Jack to figure this swimming thing out this year. But it did take a lot of swimming lessons and a lot of anxiety and tears but we could not be more proud of him for getting to this point! I might have even been crying while I recorded these videos. Prior to this, he'd hang on the side of the pool, or someone and it would take a lot of coaxing to get him to go under or to let go. We'd spend an hour at the pool and probably 50 minutes of it would be a pep talk! This day he just got in and took off. Kenny and I looked at each other in pure amazement.
It really took a village. Aqua-Tots was wonderful for being aggressive and making him try things he didn't want to try. It was not wonderful on this Momma's heart or mind, but I must say, they probably deserve a big chunk of the credit. They are no joke - they push them hard. Jack had private lessons there which meant it was 30 nonstop minutes of being pushed to go under over and over. But I think it worked. I have a few issues with their policies and lack of flexibility and it was very expensive, but it worked, so it was all worth it. On top of that, Jack's school goes swimming 3 times a week. They have lessons there, in a small group and I think this year, though it started out with a lot of tears about not wanting to go to the pool, Jack's really kind of enjoyed it. I'm not sure he'd admit that, but every once in a while, I see a little smile peek out when he's talking about what they did at the pool that day. We also found this sweet swim teacher, Brett, who works with Jack one on one, whenever we can make our schedules work out. He's great and Jack really seems to like him and it's low key but a good chance for Jack to get in some more practice. All of this has added up to Jack, loving being in the pool, and let me tell you, that's not something I was sure I'd ever see!
It was a rocky start to the summer with a lot of anxiety on all parts, well, I'm not sure Max had any anxiety, except maybe a tiny bit in regards to the tickling pirates, but watching your child be scared of something and forcing them to face that fear is hard. Especially for this Momma who carries around plenty of her own anxiety about most everything. Kenny and I tried every tactic we could. We read books, we talked to friends, we talked to Grams, who was an elementary school guidance counselor, we scoured the internet, and I did plenty of crying and lost a lot of sleep. Jack couldn't put his hands on what was bothering him - one minute it would be swimming, another it was kindergarten, another it would be about his friends at school arguing too much. It was really a rough spot for us. It may seem trivial, but it was all consuming. After 5 years of loving his school, he suddenly was screaming for us not to leave him there. It was as though someone had taken my sweet, happy Jack and left me with someone who looked like him, but never smiled, and was scared of everything. It was really awful. But I'm SO happy to say, my sweet Jack, is back! He's loving swimming and loving school and loving life again. I'm not sure if there was really one thing that worked or didn't. Mostly, I think it took time.
I'm just so very thankful that whatever it took, we found and now, we can go enjoy the summer! Sure hope yours is going great too!
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