Water World
So swim classes have taken a turn for the worse. For whatever reason, Anna has gone from pleasantly tolerating lessons to complete refusal to get into the water. I saw some seeds of it yesterday when she freaked out about floating on her back (I could even hear the cries from 50 feet away where I was sitting), but then today she essentially refused to participate in the last half of the lesson, running over to me twice. Thank goodness I’m getting friendly with the other moms and one of them held on to Abe while I walked Anna back over to her teachers.
She is quite scared about getting water in her eyes. Abe is a ridiculously strong splasher in the bathtub at night – as in the entire bathroom is drenched and I sometimes have to change my clothes. Anna’s gotten water in her eyes too many times for her to find this pleasant. So once we have him washed up, we have to really pay attention to when he starts getting carried away and then pull him out. It’s kinda a shame because he’s having such fun. He even randomly bent over and stuck his face in the water the other day. But Anna doesn’t tolerate the chaos very well.
Today is Friday (I know you’re reading it on another day, but I’m starting to write posts ahead of time so I don’t lose my train of thought) and I hope the weekend gives her enough of a break to forget about it and start fresh on Monday. Who knows.
I will say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear the other moms talk about their experiences. One five-year old kid in her class was completely scared last year and his mother just pulled him out of class after a couple of days. However, this year he’s having a blast. He’s quite a bit taller so I thought he might be older and it turns out that he is… that makes me feel a bit more confident that Anna’s fears might just be temporary and this isn’t necessarily setting the stage for a lifelong dislike of swimming.
Only time will tell on this one. I do know one thing though, the more I push her, the more she pushes back. Anna is not a kid that can be coaxed into doing anything when it’s done in a negative tone. She’s gotta decide on her own that it’s the right time to do something. I guess that’s how most of us are. It’s just so hard not to rush this process and so we can just get to the fun part already.
Patience, I suppose. Patience seems to be the underlying lesson that I keep coming smack face to face with….
So here are. Once again.
SMACK.
Welcome! We're just your average family, trying to maintain our sanity and keep our sense of humor while raising two beautiful children and surviving suburban life. Contact me at hithereMaggie@gmail.com
2 comments:
Hang in there Maggie!! My Anna was the same way, it wasn't until she was almost 5 that we started to see signs of improvement and this summer at 5 1/2 (and now 6) she is a fish with no fear...swimming under water, picking up dive sticks, and jumping off the diving board. Now we are suffering through the same with Mac and Anna just can't seem to understand why he doesn't LOVE to swim like her...oh how easily she has forgotten the drama.
Your Anna sounds a lot like mine...she will come around, on her grounds...in time (maybe lots of time).
What Angelique said.
Hugs to you. Try not to let it worry you or stress you out. (Easier said than done, I know.)
I could not agree with you more about the idea that they will not do anything if you push them to do it. Georgia definitely resists more the more that she knows that you'd really like her to do something. Fun that trait of toddlers, isn't it? ; )
Sorry if my prior email/comment was overly optimistic. I do think she will definitely come around to swimming on her own terms, it just might be next year instead of next week.
P.S. Goggles for the bathtub? : )
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