Swim Lessons: The Second Time Around

*Did anybody start singing the Step By Step theme after reading that title? 

I started singing it as I wrote it, ha.*

We survived Day 1 of Swim Nazi swim class for the second time! After having done this with Trent and Drew, 'surviving' was about all I hoped for. {grin}

I've been so nervous about how this was going to go - on one hand, Paige LOVES to be in the pool - like jumps to me with hardly any fear, splashes like crazy, doesn't mind going under water, but on the other hand, she's not even 2.5 and this class is pretty intense. The last couple of days I've been sick to my stomach thinking about it and just praying all would go well.

We swam both Sunday and Monday which I was hoping would help her feel confident because I kept putting her under water. Well, she had a blast playing but then started saying 'I don't want to get my face wet.' Uhhhhh... So that didn't help my anxiety, but I just kept talking about what a big girl she is and how she was going to learn to swim like a fish...

Patriotic swimming

So on the way to lessons yesterday, she kept saying she didn't want to get her face wet, and I told her how important swim lessons were and it was my job to keep her safe, and she seemed okay - not great but okay. I also told her we could get a cake pop, she could have gum, she could watch Play-doh - yes, I went overboard!

During the actual lesson, she did better than I thought she would which was SO awesome...but she did scream her head off about half the class which was super sad. The first couple of times she 'swam' she didn't cry at all and would give me a high 5 when she came out of the water, but you could tell she was more in shock than actually okay with what was going on. Then she told me she needed to potty and I kept delaying her {she had gone before class started}, and that's when the wheels fell off. She was CRYING SO HARD - it was really difficult for me to stay positive and keep encouraging her when I just wanted to cry with her. But I kept telling her how awesome she was and how brave and strong she was, and she kept on taking her turn!!

She was so proud of herself when class was over and said 'I did good in my swim lessons' and seems to be okay with knowing we are going back today... With Trent and Drew the second day was at least 50% better and by the 3rd day they were both done crying. Fingers crossed for Paigey! You know I'll share video as soon as I can! {grin}

She survived! And gets to ride home in Drew's seat!