Blogging with the Bynum's: Swim Lessons

Well swim lessons did not go exactly like I had envisioned but we did finish and even with a smile! So Mr Brayden has never been a fan of the water. Those of you that can recall him as a baby know that he screamed in baths, we tried bribery with popcycles and he still hated the bath. We did bathtime every couple of days just because of how much he hated the water. His first two years of life at the lake consisted of him walking sandy beaches and touching the water with his feet. He had no interest of getting in at all! Last summer he finally warmed up to the water a little bit but even with me holding him in the deep end or with a life jacket or float he would scream with fear.

So I decided this summer he was old enough for swim lessons and needed someone else pushing and telling him what to do besides me. Well, the first day of swim lessons was a complete disaster. We showed up, the water was freezing cold, he had 2 other kids in his class (one that never got in and the other that was way more advanced that us). Within the first 5 minutes she tried to get him to blow bubbles which he tried, but she failed to tell him not to suck in just to blow out. And you guessed it, he inhaled water through his nose and mouth. Disaster! I could see the tears begin to form as he choked a while. He looked at me and I assured him he would be ok. She tried to get him to do it again and he refused (I told the life guard we would work on this with him). This day lessons were cut a little short as Brayden decided he was done and way too cold to finish his 30 minute lesson.

So on to day 2. I bring Brayden up to get his suit on him and he begins screaming he is not going to swim lessons. This crying goes on for 30 minutes with me making no break through of reasoning with him. I finally decide to call Josh. He tells Brayden he will go to swim lessons at least one more time today and then we can decide if he doesn't like it. We assured him he did not have to blow bubbles and that I would get in the water with him. Like I said, not quite how I envisioned swim lessons to go. I also used bribery and told him afterwards I would take him to a local yogurt shop, Chill. I quickly called my sweet friend Crystal and she said she could watch Bransen while I swam with Brayden. I stood by Brayden's side while the others blew bubbles, he refused. Then it came time to float on our stomachs, nope, refused. Mean momma kicked in and I had to physically make him float on his belly with me holding him. After 3 times, he was like, I can do this and wanted to do it more. The same for back floating. Nope, not doing it! Mean momma, physically making him, and after a few times, he did it willingly.

So day 3, I had Josh come with us to swim lessons. We had a breakthrough. He performed and did everything the instructor asked him to do while we sat on the side watching. Oh this little stinker.

All this to say...we survived swim lessons and make it to the final 8th day with a smile on our face! He even asked today if he could blow more bubbles while floating on his stomach!