On the morning of day 2 of swimming lessons, Gage said: "You know, I'm just a little fireman and little firemen don't go underwater." To which we replied, "But, Gage, you have to be able to go underwater if you're going to do any water rescues like Poppy." The conversation died off as quickly as it started.
Several hours later we landed at swimming lessons. I was solo with him; I was hoping I could be as encouraging, yet not babying, as possible to get him to go underwater so that he would perhaps go off the diving board by the end of the week when his dad and Grandpa Cable are trying to make it down.
His lessons are really just age- and height-appropriate goals to accomplish. Last night our goals were to open our eyes under water, to use ladders, and to build on back-floating and kick board kicking.
It's probably a good thing lessons aren't strict about what's supposed to be going on at any given time because kids are all over the scale of comfort levels. I decided to start where Austin had left off the night before, which was getting him to simply jump in (holding hands)and survive the face splash without whining.
Five or so jumps in, I made him start standing and jumping... then I started letting go of his hands when his feet were in the air... then I just convinced him that he didn't need me at all and challenged him to jump further than where I was standing. I couldn't believe how well he was doing [and with me being in the coach's seat]. Before I knew it, this "I don't want to go underwater" kid was running and jumping into the pool like he'd been doing it all his life.
All along I kept asking him about going off the diving board and all along he was adamant about not going off the diving board. So when it was time to get out, I just marched him to the diving board anyway. And--he went off. Twice! and then cried that he had to leave the pool. I couldn't believe it! I even made him go underwater when he jumped off. The boy is ready for water rescues now :) And it just goes to show that it's okay to push your kids into doing something that you know is good for them, despite their words or wishes. I guess I'd say that I'm proud of both of us.
I hope Austin and his dad make it down for the finale. After all, we're Cable's. We're lake dwellers. Grandpa Cable swims a mile six days each week. We teach people to water ski, wakeboard, and barefoot. It's a good feeling that our kids are going to survive this world that's been gifted to them. Every day I feel more and more at home with life.
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