The boys began their first summer swim lessons when they were 2 and 3 but they pretty much cried through most of it. Alright, maybe it was more Tristan who cried and not so much Chase. In any case, now that they're 5 and have been surfing for a while, they no longer fear the water. So it's nice to see that they are enjoying their swimming lessons at last. Well.... except for the diving part which Tristan is NOT into at the moment.
Last week when the instructor told the class that they can try jumping off the diving board, Tristan was super excited and was the first one in line; however, when he got to the edge of the diving board, he got really, really, really spooked. Reality set in. He so badly wanted to jump but he was just too scared to do it. It's as though his mind was yelling JUMP but his body was frozen (have you ever had that feeling?) He stood at the edge of the board looking down and the longer he stood there, the more frightened he became. At one point, his knees began to shake so hard that I could almost hear them knocking into each other; I thought for sure that his legs would give out on him and that he would fall right into the pool (didn't happen). I was muttering under my breath, "just jump, just jump" knowing that once he got past the actual jumping part, he would love it. Long story short, no amount of encouragement would make him jump in on his own so a lifeguard came to help out and gently threw Tristan into the pool. Let me tell you, Tristan did NOT enjoy it. Not. One. Bit.
Later in the day when we were talking about it, Tristan expressed that he will try jumping off the diving board again when he turns 6 years old (he likes to buy time, I noticed). Anyways, I told him that when we're scared, sometimes the best thing to do is (1) close your eyes and (2) jump, not think! Tristan shook his head with disapproval -- he didn't think much of the "Just Do It" philosophy. He quietly repeated that he would wait until he was 6 because right now, he was still a little boy. I am slowly learning to "listen" and hear what my boys are really saying....
Last week when the instructor told the class that they can try jumping off the diving board, Tristan was super excited and was the first one in line; however, when he got to the edge of the diving board, he got really, really, really spooked. Reality set in. He so badly wanted to jump but he was just too scared to do it. It's as though his mind was yelling JUMP but his body was frozen (have you ever had that feeling?) He stood at the edge of the board looking down and the longer he stood there, the more frightened he became. At one point, his knees began to shake so hard that I could almost hear them knocking into each other; I thought for sure that his legs would give out on him and that he would fall right into the pool (didn't happen). I was muttering under my breath, "just jump, just jump" knowing that once he got past the actual jumping part, he would love it. Long story short, no amount of encouragement would make him jump in on his own so a lifeguard came to help out and gently threw Tristan into the pool. Let me tell you, Tristan did NOT enjoy it. Not. One. Bit.
Later in the day when we were talking about it, Tristan expressed that he will try jumping off the diving board again when he turns 6 years old (he likes to buy time, I noticed). Anyways, I told him that when we're scared, sometimes the best thing to do is (1) close your eyes and (2) jump, not think! Tristan shook his head with disapproval -- he didn't think much of the "Just Do It" philosophy. He quietly repeated that he would wait until he was 6 because right now, he was still a little boy. I am slowly learning to "listen" and hear what my boys are really saying....
Here's Tristan learning how to float:
And here's Chase who has no fear of the water... which is all the more reason why he needs to learn how to swim.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment