Big, Big News!

 

Our BIG BOY four year old has learned to swim! June 21, 2013 will go down in Gavin's book as the first day he braved the water alone!

 

Gavin took swimming lessons over the past two summers, hoping that he’d take to the water like a guppy. At age two, we did a mommy and me class at the city pool, and last summer G took a two-week three year old class at the same city pool.  He did not learn to swim.  As Gavin's love for fishing has grown and his curiosity of the outdoors continues to flourish, being around water and him not being able to swim has made TD and me very nervous.  We told G in May that this summer was going to be his summer to brave the swim!  I was aware that this could’ve very well NOT been his summer to swim, but I'm pretty sure there was no “option B” in TD's mind.  Jacob and Brie were equipped with the ability to swim at four years old but didn't conquer their fear until much older, and although I don't mind pushing our kids to achieve things, I also worry about pushing too hard.  The solution was signing G up for swimming lessons the first week of summer with a professional, choosing Alan Cox Aquatics at the Piney Z Plantation.

 

Leaving him no time to "play" his own way in the water and getting right down to business, Matt, the instructor at Alan Cox, was fantastic.  He was very good with the kids and worked with them on holding their breath, going under the water, using a kick board, jumping in, swimming with their arms out, floating and general pool safety.  I loved the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that G and I could stay and play in the water afterwards!  Perqs are very important!  I also loved that the pool has a huge stair area for the kids to play comfortably until they are ready to go out on their own. 

 

This year was the first year G's coach was a man so I'm not sure if that helped, but after two weeks swimming every morning with Matt for an hour, and then with me for another hour, G had all the information he needed to swim.  All that was left was to conquer his fear.  We traded in his puddle jumper for a dollar store super-skinny noodle and we had three beautiful mornings of swimming in the shallow shores at the beach in St. Pete last week.  Gavin did not agree that it was the right time to swim.  He played very well without floaties and went under the water, but he just wouldn’t let himself swim!

 

Friday was our first day back in the pool since his swimming lessons, and when Jac, Brie and I took G to swim at Killearn, it clicked!  Gavin swam!  Under the water, holding his breath, the whole 9 yards.  We went back with TD on Saturday so he could show daddy that he's part fish now!  We had so much fun! Gavin still refuses to float on his back, but he's working on it.  We can finally have some level of comfort on our water-bound adventures!

 

We are very proud!! Beyond proud.  We’re a happy, water-loving Aquarius mama and crabby daddy!

 

Great job, Gavin!