Swimming

Monday was Jacob's first day of swimming lessons at Crawfish Aquatics. He was nervous because he didn't know what to expect but he was still eager to go. When I picked him up after class he was quite distraught. Apparently he cried most of the lesson because he was so scared to do new things. He told me that he put his head underwater and had to swim to the teacher. What? When I asked him how the teacher got him to do it he said that the teacher told him to. Nice. We would have had to shove his head under water and launch him out to get him to "swim". All during the day and into the evening Jacob talked about how much he didn't want to go back to swim lessons. On the way the next morning I tried to keep his mind off where we were going by telling jokes, singing songs, and dancing crazy. He also wanted me to hold his hand at the stop lights. At this point I was seriously questioning whether it was the right time for swimming lessons and if he was going to be scarred for life. Before we got out of the car and after he said that he hated swimming lessons for the thousandth time, I asked Jacob if he wanted to say a prayer to Heavenly Father to help him be brave. After the prayer he put on a brave face and tried not to cry. He was much braver and cried a lot less. That night we decided to take him swimming in the pool so he could show us what he was learning. We were absolutely amazed!! He kept putting his head all the way under water and had us count to 10!! He loved it. He continues to be nervous with us and his teacher when he has to swim. He does great at gliding and kicking his feet and "swimming" for about 5 feet. He just doesn't like the feeling of not being able to touch the bottom. Jacob really is coming a lot way and we are very proud of his progress. Before each lesson he likes to say a prayer to help him be brave. He told us that the "scared part goes up to Heaven and the brave part stays down with him in his brain".  We are excited to watch his class next Thursday.