Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Small Victories

BoyBoy has not always been a fan of the beach and water.  He never stepped on sand willingly until he was four and declared that his four year-old feet liked the sand.  He was also one of those kids who was afraid of water.  This was hard for me because I want to live at the beach, hang out at the beach, ride waves at the beach, have my ashes scattered at the beach when I die...you get the picture.  

Bubba and I have put him in swim lessons every chance we have gotten and he does well but we have never felt that he was a strong enough swimmer to be allowed to swim with out us there, in the water with him.  Finally, when we moved here, my sister told us about the "stroke" team that operates within my niece's swim club.  It is a non-competitive team that focuses on stroke technique and building endurance.  We signed him up and WOW!  All of a sudden we have a fish on our hands.  

I can't tell you how this makes me feel.  Of course, I am so proud of him.  He is conquering his fears every time he jumps in the water.  He perseveres even when they are working on the dreaded butterfly.  He smiles at the end of every length of the pool.  And he is improving in leaps and bounds.  I also am a little sad.  He won't need to hold my hand any more when we jump the waves.  He doesn't hold his nose anymore when he goes under - a habit that I find adorable.  He is becoming such an independent little man.  

Boy, life goes by pretty fast...

6 comments:

jill jill bo bill said...

hang on to your hat, honey. it's a bumpy ride!

Debbie said...

What a great idea that class is. I wish all sports had a "teaching" class like that.

Kim said...

Yay! Now you can move to the beach!

Unknown said...

Thats soooo awesome wheezie!!!
YAY for boyboy!

Debz said...

I remember doing these classes too, but then we couldn't keep them out of the pool. However, when we went to the beach, they were scared the first few times again. I think it was just so large and overwhelming for them - much bigger than a pool.
Enjoy your beach time now! It'll be so much more fun now that you can all enjoy it more.

Amy Amy Bo Bamey said...

That's AWESOME. Both my kids are fish! We live at the beach but neither one really care for it. They would much rather just hang out at our pool.