Friday, July 02, 2010

Big, Brave BOY!

Oh, swim lessons! Oh, the drama! …But, honestly, I can’t say much! I can remember being TERRIFIED in the same way that my little man was! Sorry…you got it from your Momma, little boy!… It all started the week that Daddy was out of town! Mammer and I would courageously take Quinn to his swim lesson every afternoon.

Day one started off good! He was excited…until he had to get in the water and his coach wanted him to go under. Things turned ugly FAST! … Tears, sobs…he wanted Mommy and he wanted out. But, surprisingly enough, when we left, he talked fondly of his lesson. Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 030 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 031 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 033 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 035 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 038 Day two he was a little more skeptical. But, he went…and Mammer and I waited in the locker room for him. He just did better when he knew we weren’t there! We heard him cry about 3/4 of the way through his 30 minute lesson…and we knew he had gone under and hated it! It was sad…but, he still talked fondly of his time and was ok going back the next day!

Every day, we’d walk past the trophies in the foyer before we got into the pool. And, one day, Quinn said… “Do I get one of those?” And, I brilliantly said, “YES…if you’re a BIG BRAVE BOY for swim lessons!” He seemed motivated!!!

But, on day three, as Mammer and I were walking to our spot in the locker room, we hear him yell, through a few tears, “I’m NOT A BIG BRAVE BOY!!!” Bless his heart! Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 044 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 046 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 052 Father's Day, Toy Story 3, start of Swim Lessons 054But, thankfully, day three was better…and days four and five were even better than that! We were making progress! He was sometimes going under without screaming and was learning to kick and move his arms better every day! We were so proud of our big brave boy!
More Swim Lessons, Daddy's 33rd, Nash's Room, and More 001 More Swim Lessons, Daddy's 33rd, Nash's Room, and More 002  Matt's Birthday, Slickpaw's Camera 024 Matt's Birthday, Slickpaw's Camera 027 Then, Week two came! He was now with Coach Chelsea and seemed to respond so well to a sweet girl! Day one was NOT good…but at least Daddy was there to help talk him through it. He must have said “Mommy” 100 times during his 30 minute lesson. It was annoying! I was afraid that the weekend had caused us to start right back at square one. But, at the end of the lesson, he went under…and came up with a SMILE! WOW!!! Matt's Birthday, Slickpaw's Camera 016On the way to his lesson on Tuesday, Daddy and I had a BIG pep talk with our swimmer! We REALLY talked up the trophy and about how he could do ANYTHING through Jesus who gives him strength. We talked about specific things he needed to accomplish to get his trophy and how he needed to not say “Mommy” and not cry! …

And, it worked! The rest of the week was a DREAM and our little man was SO big and SO brave! He would leave his lesson each time talking about how proud he was of himself… and we agreed that he should be! During days two through five of week two, he went under ALL BY HIMSELF numerous times at each lesson…he learned how to kick and give Coach Chelsea high fives while he had the noodle (‘yellow car’) around his waist…he would “jump” in from the side from a sit and from a squat…he’d blow bubbles in the water…and jump from her arms to “swim” to the side of the pool. (about 3+ feet)!
326 328

010

014 020 023028And, after all of that…it FINALLY paid off, and our BIG BRAVE BOY earned his trophy! After a hilarious “it’s so little" remark (when I ordered it, I figured it would at least have a tower…oh well), and reassurance that it was HIS size, he was SOOOOO very proud of his accomplishment! He couldn’t quit staring at it…and was so proud to pose with it next to the big trophy case! 
 032 033 041037 039  043We truly are SOOOO very proud of our brave swimmer! It was HARD on a momma to watch her little boy struggle through something like this, but I was so proud of him for pushing through and learning so much! …I feel that it was SOOOO much progress for a three year old swimmer and am sure that next year will be even greater!!!

2 comments:

Mary said...

Love his comment--my kids are starting to say things like that that make me laugh. Nothing beats when a grandparent walks in and they say, "Okay, thanks for coming, bye bye!" Especially when the other set (other side,) are rock stars to them and they knock each other over to get to them. I try to get them excited to see both sets but they don't realize it's kinda mean to snub people yet. SIGH. I'm sorry it wasn't love at first sight with the water but it sounds like he made great progress during his lessons. Big boy!

Karen Cleveland said...

Hello. I have commented on your blog a couple of times and I have a huge favor to ask you. First of all let me say I think you are such a fun mommy and friend and I am so excited to see little Nash. My husband works in medical sales and we just found out that we are moving to Texas. I have 3 kids, so I need to know where the best schools are and the most family friendly neighborhoods. I know that you are about to have a baby and that you life is crazy right now but any advice you could give me I would really appreciate it. Our max to spend on a house would be around $600,000 but most importantly we want to be in a great school district (my son is starting kindergarten) and hopefully surrounded by Godly people. What church does your husband work at? Thank you so much for you help! Good luck with Nash!

One more thing...do you know any real estate agents that you could recommend?

karenbracken@yahoo.com