Swim tales..

I didn't get to finish my previous post.  About the swimming struggles we are going through.  I guess it is not fair on my part to call it "struggles" for KB's swimming but to me it feels that way.  I took him for swim lessons when he turned four.  He was scared but did OK.  But that year was more of an introduction to being in water.  The next summer (last year), I took him for two sessions or more I can't remember.  He got to a level 3 and could swim and back float across the width of the pool.  But around mid-July he fell sick with bronchitis and that kind of unbearable coughing really scared me.  I stopped going to the pool for a while but by then it was colder - even though it is an indoor pool where they charge an arm and a leg for swim lessons, it gets cold once he is out of the water - and I just stopped going until this July.  But the sad part is his favorite teacher had left by then.  This new teacher is supposed to be one of the best but the chemistry just did not work out between her and KB.  She took him to the deep end of the pool before he felt ready for it mentally.  He coped OK but it left him feeling stiff and nervous.  My thought is this - she may be a great teacher but I don't want him to feel terrified getting into the water when he didn't start out that way.  There are situations where there is no copping out - like say the first day of school etc - but this, he can learn swimming from a teacher who will smile a little and pat him on the back when he feels terrified.  He is not training to be in a competition, he is just here to learn swimming! So anyway, I decided to move him to a private teacher for private lessons rather than semi-private (2 kids) in a swim school.  Only problem with this is that it is an outdoor pool and he can only learn with this teacher until the end of summer when it is warm enough.  Last week I took him to class every day.  He seems to be very comfortable with the new teacher and is making good progress now.  First couple of classes, I felt like I would be in tears.  All that effort to be at the beginning stage again! I cursed myself for stopping his swim lessons for a whole year.  I am hoping that by the end of summer he will be able to swim the length of the pool.  We are going on a holiday for a week, so it leaves me with three weeks to somehow get him there.  I am going to try to take him every day so he can make as much progress as possible! Let's see!  He is also working very hard towards it and wants to go to swimming class every day.

On another note, we went to a circus today.  We had fabulous booth seats from B's work and the kids really enjoyed the show.  But I am not much of a circus fan.  Acrobats are fun to watch but I hate it when the animals perform.  I just don't see the fun in seeing ten tigers sitting on stools in a circle and responding to their name being called and finally all of them lifting their paws and sitting like puppies.  It is so unnatural and sad to see them be that way.  And the poor elephants balancing their weight on tiny little stools.  I don't find any of the animal performances in these shows entertaining.  At least I was glad to see them all look very healthy and not scrawny and malnourished.

Next post - on KB turning six this week.  Hope to write that post before he turns seven!