Swimming lessons - Travis

Well this has been a hard decision again this year...Do we force Travis to do swimming lessons. He is not a water lover at all and has no desire to learn how to swim. When we made the decision to sign him up he has been dreading summer ever since. He had made it clear that he did not want to have anything to do with swimming and insisted he wouldn't go in the pool when he had to. Last year and this year the kids took lessons at a family friends pool who have taught lessons for years. I signed up Travis and Kaitlin together in private lessons hoping to make the experience as best I could for him. When the time came for lessons to start he was not happy. He will put his head under the water and try to swim in the shallow end but panics if he's in the deep end. MJ talked him into using a floating belt which he ended up not mining. By the second week though she started to really push him. Most days we went to swimming him crying all the way and begging not to go. He was sure MJ would let him drown. By the last two days he was crying in the pool or holding the fence and not letting go. This was not a tantrum but him in shear panic. I've never seen him so fearful. You'd swear she was going to beat him the way he reacted to going in the water. (MJ was very good with him. She encouraged him, praised him and pushed him to show him he could do it) By the end of the last day he was done, and I'm really not sure if I can do it too him again. He did get better, but really she put him in the middle of the pool and he had to swim to the side and tread water. He did not do this very well, but she wanted him to know how to get to the side and tread water if he ever had to. I am very proud of him for how hard he did try. I'm hoping that we made the right decision. I think he did get stronger in the water and learned a little. Hopefully our monthly family swim will help him learn to like the water a little more before next year.

Travis floating!
Swimming with his belt.

Swimming with no belt.