The Swim Breakthrough

It was an incredibly busy weekend and we were contemplating not taking the boys to their swim lesson and even discussed not doing the lessons because they didn't like to go and weren't making any progress. I even called to find out our options about a refund.

We decided to attend since we related it to being part of a team and that we couldn't just give up.

 

We are so super happy that we did because today was the day that Connor finally realized that his float would actually keep him afloat.  He would confirm this when we were in the pool that he wasn't going to sink but was shrieking in tears the last time that I tried to get him to "swim" on his own earlier in the week. The new swim director took away his beloved back float citing it wasn't an acceptable device for rescue and could only be used in swim lessons with a lifeguard/instructor observing.

Connor and I did our typical routine of hold me close to the neck, move down to the shoulders, down to the elbows and holding 2 fingers. I looked away from him and let go. Instead of a major meltdown, he smiled big and started to kick and maneuver around.  We were so proud of him.  It has been an ongoing issue.  Knowing that you can't compare the boys makes things hard especially when it come sports.  Connor never lived in a mindset that the float would keep him up and Jackson has been using his Turtle for 2 plus years without incident.  It was limiting the fun he could have at the pool without being carried around, being designated to the kiddie pool or monkey patching the pool at the Y.

Despite the complete shock of him being able to float/swim on his own, he took a step further and said the he was ready to jump in.  This has been an issue in their prior lessons with neither boy being able to relax enough and jump in without holding the instructor or our hands.  Their prior instructor explained that they lacked confidence and without being able to jump in, they wouldn't be able to move on to the next class.  He jumped in and went out of the pool and did it again and again.  At one point, he asked me to move away so that he could do it on his own.