I’m Grateful For… Seeing Skye Swimming

Another Grateful Post, linking up with Maxabella Loves, such a positive way to round out the week, and see the work of some very clever bloggers too.

Skye has been attending swimming lessons since the start of the year, but I have never been able to sit inside and watch her. The structure of the lesson is a one-on-one with the instructor with the parents observing from the sidelines. This seemed simple enough until I handed Skye over for her first lesson and she proceeded to scream for the whole 15 minutes. I can understand her distress, I had thrown her into a completely foreign environment with a total stranger while I stood out of reach trying to encourage her to enjoy herself. The following week it was the same thing, so the instructor suggested that she may calm down if she cannot see me while she is in there, so I should stand outside until the lesson is over.

For weeks I stood outside as Skye cried in varying degrees ranging from total panic to subdued grizzling. The quiet periods gradually became longer as I wondered what on earth they actually did with her. Luke often asked me what she was learning and I never had an answer. I was beginning to wonder whether it was worth all the expense if she was too upset to hear anything they were trying to teach her.

Once Skye started Family Day Car I had to change the day of her swimming lesson and I was unable to have the same instructor. I was concerned that Skye was finally starting to make progress and now she would have to start again with someone new, but there was no alternative.

The following week we went to lessons with Skye’s new instructor and while she still protested the idea, she quickly calmed down once I walked outside. I could actually hear the instructor telling her to kick her legs. Wow, I thought, I might actually start to get my money’s worth!

The recent teething and colds caused a bit of a set-back with Skye’s lessons and she was pretty unhappy about being there, but generally was okay by the end of the lesson when I came back in to collect her. I could see she was definitely learning something because she took great delight in showing off her new skills each night at bath time.

Last week we arrived a little early because it seemed to help if Skye was able to see some of the other kids swimming before it was her turn. This time I was having trouble holding onto her as she tried to jump out of my arms to get into the water. She squealed with excitement when the other kids swam past and pointed repeatedly towards the pool, just in case I hadn’t picked up that she was keen to go in. I figured I might try my luck and see if I could stay inside since she was so pumped about the whole situation, I could always go outside if she started getting upset. I handed her over to the instructor and off they went, no cry, no grizzle, no trying to clamber back out, I was rapt!

After 6 long months I was finally able to share some of Skye’s learning and see the joy in her face as she splashed and kicked and paddled all over the pool. I am glad that I persevered with the classes despite it being so hard to see her upset, because it is such a vital life skill to have. Skye is normally such a water baby and we live so close to lakes and beaches that I want us to be able to enjoy our beautiful surroundings as a family, knowing that she has a least some swimming ability is great peace of mind for all of us.