Sunday, March 29, 2009

Thomas the Shark


For a few weeks this spring, Thomas took swimming lessons at the YMCA. This was his last day of lessons. He just told me that he doesn't like swimming lessons because, "it has blue yucky water."
Swimming lessons for Thomas was quite a test in his life. When I signed him up, we were supposed to do a mother & child class, but at the last minute, it got changed to a regular class with just the instructor. Of course Thomas struggled not being right next to me the first day. The lesson went ok for the first 15-20 minutes, but after that Thomas lost it. He started to cry and the teacher dismissed him a few minutes early.
His next lesson, the teacher told me that I had to watch from the other room so Thomas wouldn't cry. That helped a little. So I was banned to watch from the other room for a few lessons.
The second week, Thomas really wanted me to watch him by the pool. I told him that I would if he didn't cry. We also made a deal that if he was really good and didn't cry, he could pick a treat after lessons from the snack machine. He was perfect that day, even happy! Don't know if it was because his regular teacher wasn't there (she's kindof the firm/stern personality), or if he had goggles on, or if he knew he'd get a treat if he was good. What ever the reason, it was nice to see him enjoy his swimming lessons.
From then on, Thomas didn't cry and I could watch from the side of the pool. He also got a treat after each class. We had class every Tues & Thurs for a month so I thought that was a good deal!
By the 3rd week, Thomas was really getting into lessons! He'd kick his legs really hard. He'd do his arms too! He didn't like to blow bubbles in the water because he didn't like to get water in his eyes. I kept telling Thomas that the water wouldn't get in his eyes if he'd wear his goggles!
Our last week of swimming went really well! Thomas seemed to really enjoy it and did so well! I thought about signing him up again, but decided that we'd wait since our life is so busy right now!

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