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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Swim Lessons...Part Two

So Tuesday meant more swim lessons. I will admit that in some ways I was really dreading it, fearing a repeat of last week. In preparation, and in hopes of making life easier, I formulated a plan. After school, we went to my store to watch a video and eat lunch, with no mention of swimming. That way, they would get some chill out time and be sure to get a full lunch. I was also hoping we could take care of some 'business' ahead of time, so as to avoid the whole pooping in the swim diaper thing. And guess what? Bingo. So...I got them dressed for swimming and loaded them up in the van. Before we left my parking lot, I showed them a video that I had taken at the Y. (This was Kyan's teacher's suggestion) The video was simply a step by step video of what we would do once we got to the pool. The idea was to show them so that they could predict what would come next, and to avoid the anxiety they felt last week. You can watch the video below. Be sure to mute the blog music--the playlist is at the bottom of the page.

I showed the video to K & K because I knew B would not care either way. And guess what? They walked (ran actually) inside and trotted along like little happy ducklings right down the hall, through the red door and to the pool without as much as a wimper. Miss Teresa was VERY excited. Patty and I still got in the water, but the kids did GREAT. They were kicking and paddling and blowing bubbles. Jumping in and going under, with HUGE smiles on their faces. This was major progress and Miss Teresa was thrilled. She ROCKS, by the way. I thanked her for not divorcing us after last week and she said "I am not a quitter. I enjoy a challenge. We will make this work". The kids are really taking to her and doing great. The only problem we had was leaving the pool. That transition was bad news. Sis threw herself on the tile floor and screamed inconsolably. I tried to show her the video below to show her what came next, but she was sooooo upset about leaving that it did not help.



She screamed and kicked the whole way to the dressing room, and once in there, she got louder and more upset. Eventually, she wound back down. Kyan was super mellow yesterday, and we are grateful for that!! Unfortunately, there is no video of kiddos swimming because I was in the water, but hopefully before long, they will get in on their own with Miss Teresa. Until then, we are grateful for a more peaceful experience--and that there were no hateful people giving us mean looks. I guess I need to get thicker skin, but I am not there yet. They are still my babies, and we are doing the very best we can.

3 comments:

Kate said...

So glad the swim lesson went much more smoothly! I was wondering about that earlier today.

We are loving Miss Teresa too!

Kate

Stephanie said...

I'm so glad to hear that things went better this time!

Julie Link said...

Love that you are so creative with your solutions!! Your kiddos are lucky to have you as their mommy!