Monday, December 17, 2007

Jason's First Solo Swim Class

Well after several attempts at Parent Tot swim classes, I thought we might have more luck waiting until Jason was old enough to be in the pool without me. I must say that this was a big leap of faith on my part, but I've been swimming at the Woodstock Aquatic Center for several years now and have seen their program up close and was fairly confident that all would turn out well. (If you are interested in lesson times, click on the link above and click "lessons" on the left nav bar).

Well, suffice it to say when I said to Jason we were going to swim lessons he basically freaked out and did not want to go. After a tantrum, which did not end until I had him buckled in the car seat and I started to pull the car out of the garage, he must have decided it was a done deal and sulked his way to the pool. Once we got to the pool, he saw other kids heading in and seemed to decide he was going to do this. It also helped that they had those heavy plastic "car wash" sheets hanging down to keep the cold out a bit because Jason thought it was great fun to walk through them. So we got changed and headed into the pool, they whisked Jason away from me (before either of us had time to worry) and the next thing I knew he was in the pool.

They ask you to leave the swim area... so I stayed by the other parents, all perfectly calm with their books, crafts and friendly chatter. I must say this is a great group of parents, I must have had that "first timer" look about me because folks started to volunteer updates of how Jason was doing. This way I knew what was going on without chancing that he might see me and start crying. I cringed my way through the cries that I knew were his and several parents alleviated my fears by saying their kids were the same way and now they love class. *fingers crossed*.

After 45 min of tourture, class was over and they brought Jason back to me. He was shivering and cold and hugging me very tightly. The instructors were all positive and seemed to think he did great. Jason seemed to be feeling better about the entire situation and we made even better by the offer of a lollipop! It's not just for the dr. office I guess! We stayed behind after we changed out of his swimsuit to watch the older kids swim. Jason left the pool saying that swim lessons were scary, but he doesn't think he'll be scared next time!

On our way home we stopped for some hot chocolate and I think it made everything better!

Here is a little photo post swim, he seems okay: