We have a pool at our house. It’s an old school pool which means it’s really really big and not at all kidney shaped. The type of pool that 30 kids could swim in and you’d never find your own child unless they were wearing a some sort of balloon animal hat.
Because of that I knew we had to get swimming lessons for the older kids so I could sleep at night. You know, since the security bars, hooks, and chains around the fencing was not protection enough. I like to think I’m a bit free range, but really when it comes to the pool I’m slightly paranoid. I won’t tell you how many times I’ve read that article about what drowning really looks like.
I started looking for swimming lessons months before summer and we finally found a lady who everyone spoke highly of, so we booked. I live in Florida. She lives in Alabama. We were so serious about this swim thing that I drove my kids to another state 5 days in a row to learn to swim. This was serious business.
We swim nearly every single day in our pool (with back floats like these) and my kids love the water. Love it! I assumed we’d have 3 fish by the end of the week of swimming lessons. On the first day my youngest screamed bloody murder for the first 20 minutes. I mean to tell you it was bad. I ended up having to get into the pool in my clothes to calm him down.
As this was happening, my daughter flat out refused to do anything the teacher told her. I mean she said, “No, I’m not going to!” a few times and even ran away from me. Like ran away in circles and I had to chase her. It was truly a shining moment.
There were people around. The teacher, her helpers, and others. And for a few moments I was so tempted to feel embarrassed and to make all manner of excuses for my kids. “It’s naptime… she’s tired. He takes a while to warm up to strangers….” and on and on. And then, before I owned that embarrassment and thus became frustrated with the kids, and therefore ruined our whole afternoon… I zoomed out.
What do I care what people think of me?
Do the events of one afternoon determine my success as a parent?
Don’t I embarrass myself sometimes?
So I stopped myself from being a drama queen. I chased my daughter, caught her, put her in the car, and told her she didn’t get the promised treat for good behavior. And you know what? She understood, said okay, and promised to do better the next day. And she did!
Instead of feeling like a failure because my son screamed and I had to jump into the pool with him, I felt like a mama bear! He was truly scared and I wore dripping jean shorts and a t-shirt all afternoon but he calmed down immediately. After all, the goal wasn’t to toughen him up, but to get him comfortable in the water, right?
So we drove to Alabama five days in a row (I do live just over the Florida line, to be fair) for swimming lessons. Now I have one enthusiastic swimmer, one who is semi-enthusiastic, and one who still prefers his back floats and riding on mama’s hip. But we know things we didn’t know before.
Like how to go from treading to swimming.
Or how to help them go under water.
And why being embarrassed at our children’s behavior is stupid.
They’re young. Nobody’s perfect. And I’d much rather determine my worth as a mom on how I behave when goings get tough, not on how “obedient” my kids are.
Well, it’s over and we’ve lived to tell about it and I do have one fish. Two little minnows who may become fish next year, and one fish.
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Thank you to Rachel from A Mother Far From Home for sharing her Mom Tale from The Trenches. You can find Rachel blogging about parenting here, on Facebook and Pinterest.
Do you want to share your story here? I’d love to have you. Email loveandmarriageblog@gmail.com
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Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.
Pinball Sales Australia says
It’s a good thing that people teach children at a young age to swim so that they would not be having a hard time to learn it when they are older.
Emma says
When choosing a one-piece children’s swimsuit, pay attention to the cut of the straps. If you need a swimsuit for several seasons, a model with tie straps that can be adjusted to fit your height will do. You can always find the best baby swimwear here.