Swimming lessons fill my childhood memories and I am so thankful my mom took the time to make sure we all had swimming lessons. I was so excited for Elizabeth's first set of swimming lessons. She had 2 weeks of lessons at the dome.
The first day, she was beyond excited and jumped right in the water. Unfortunately, this excitement quickly withered. One of the younger boys in her class screamed the entire first lesson which of course made Elizabeth leery. Top that with the teacher letting go a moment before Elizabeth had reached to edge and you have one preschooler who dislikes swimming lessons...
Swimming lessons now consisted of Elizabeth alternating between screaming or sobbing the entire half hour! I tried everything from long conversations about her fears, to bribes, to threats, to Dad watching, to nearly giving up. But, my philosophy is that if you start something, you finish and I am so glad we stuck with it. After week one being a disaster, my friend and I decided to take our kids during free swim to the pool to practice and allow Elizabeth to swim with kids she knows. It worked!
With Elizabeth, she has to be the one to decide if and when she will do something. With new experiences, I've learned the secret is patience to allow her to warm up and decide if she will enjoy whatever it is she's trying.
We start swimming lessons round #2 tomorrow at the outdoor pool... I'll let you know what Elizabeth decides!
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