Raising Eli & Zachary + a little Princess

Eli was a brave boy when it came to swimming when he was a year old. At the YMCA we would participate in classes and thought that this was going to build a good foundation of confidence near water. What we didn’t expect was the second year to be the opposite. Getting Eli into the water from 2-3 years old was almost impossible.

This year we knew the only solution was to get him into a swimming school with a great teacher. We thought, and we were correct that Eli responds differently to teachers than us, and will do almost anything a teacher asks him to do without the tantrums and whining. So we enrolled him into Safety Swim and over the last six weeks we have watched him grow as a swimmer.

Just a quick recap: Week 1-3 was all about calming him down and getting him to stop crying. Eli has sensory issues and hates to be wet. So sprinklers, squirt guns and splashing…. they are all on his not fond to be around list. The good part was Eli’s willingness to try and he really did have a good attitude, albeit he was a big clingly.

Week 4 -6 has been a bit different. Eli will float by himself with his swimmies on, will jump in the side with just a bit of hesitation and goes underwater more, although he still throws a cow. At the end of our first six weeks we realize one thing, he needs another series of 6 weeks and it looks like this is something he will be doing for a long time. The instructors, who have been excellent say that all of this is normal behavior and he is doing very well. I hope that in another six weeks I will come back and look at this and laugh. I hope my kid turns out to be a dolphin, wanting to swim all the time. How else are scuba diving parents going to ever survive if our kids are not water babies.

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Swimming lessons at Safety Swim has really started making a difference in Eli’s approach to water. At first, he would just cry and throw a temper-tantrum but last night he willingly entered into a pool with mom and swam. This is great therapy for Eli on all levels and it is really starting to change his willingness to try new things.

A great example is the fair we went to the other night. He went on the really big slide where you have to sit on the carpet and go over three or four big humps without any fear. He also rode the carousel two times without me having to stand behind him, but the biggest thrill was his willingness to go on the dragon roller coaster with his cousin Nicole. Although he cried when he got off, he survived the entire ride and even forced a few smiles for Mom and Dad (who looked terrified for him).

Eli is really beginning to come out of the fear phase and we look forward to our Sesame Place trip at the end of the month.

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