Flashback Friday and Swimming

Swimming has always been a love/hate thing for Lauryn. She wants to badly to enjoy it. She would love to jump off the diving board, swim in the deep end, and swim the pool's length.

Unfortunately her natural tendency to be cautious has overcome her desire to do all of those things. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This child is my clone. I feel her pain. I just wish I could do or say something to make it easier for her.

She's been in swimming lessons from the time she was two years old. I was about 8 months pregnant with Allison and did a "Mommy and Me" swimming class with Lauryn. It was not a pretty sight, but that's another story.

Even up until this past Fall, she has been fearful of the water. I signed her up for lessons at a facility whose program runs from January to early June, with one lesson a week. About three lessons into it, the crying and the anxiety was too much to handle. I pulled her out and we finished up the remainder of the lessons with Allison going once a week instead.

So that brings us to this summer. My friend Lisa and I figured we would sign Lauryn and Ethan up to take a class together at the YMCA. It always helps to have a friend. A familiar face in an unknown situation always makes it easier.

So after watching her cry every day for the first week (of a two week session) and call "Mommy!" over and over again from the pool side, I figured we were just out of luck. I couldn't say, do, or bribe any more than I already had.

Then...

Week two started. She cried the first day. Her Daddy came to watch the next day and we talked about how she should show him how brave she is. He would be sad to leave work just to come and watch her cry.

Well, something clicked that day. She smiled. She smiled the entire time while waving frantically at her Daddy every time she got in the water. Never mind that I have been sitting through these lessons for three years now, and every single lesson I have had to endure the heartbreaking crying. I don't even care about that now. Something happened to make her realize that she can have fun in the water.

For the next two lessons, she had the time of her life. She laughed and smiled and waved. I couldn't have been more relieved.

She also started putting all of her skills together. On the last day I looked up to see her with her head in the water, pulling her arms and kicking her feet. And she came up smiling.

She's like a whole new child in the water. She enjoys the pool. She doesn't cling to me or have to be at my side the whole time. She begs to go swimming now, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Here she is at age 3...her second summer of lessons. This was as far as she ever went into the pool that year.

And here we are on her last day of lessons this summer! A huge smile and actual wet hair! (Sorry for the photo quality...the big glass window in front of me didn't make it easy to take good pictures!)

I'll take this silly face over a crying face any day!
Putting it all together!
Lauryn and Ethan on the last day of lessons! (Could those blue lips mean they are a little chilly??!)