Today was BOY's first swimming lesson. He was BESIDE himself. He COULDN'T wait to get to the Y. We arrived a few minutes early, so I took him for a walk throughout the facility. We stopped in at the gym, which was empty, and he had a great time running on gymnastic mats, scaling a bar, and hearing his shoes squeak on the gymnasium floor. We visited the weight rooms, he took a swing at a punching bag, and we went up and down stairs. It only slowed him down a bit, but I think it helped both of us. I was really anxious about the lesson. BOY absolutely LOVES water, of any kind. But, he is a bit fearless and his impulse control is OUT THERE. Right before we went to the pool, BOY had to go the bathroom. As he was washing his hands he started singing:
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin' my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
...and I about died watching him so full of happiness.
Last Wednesday I brought him to the Y to go swimming during the open swim. I thought it would help him to see where he would be taking the swimming lessons. He was like a rolling marble. He leaped out of the little pool and was down the steps of the big pool within seconds. I got to him very quickly, but not before he had stepped off the last step and gone under, swallowing some water. He was quite startled. You see, he believes he can already swim. I had to sit down with him and the lifeguard and go over the pool rules, (which I had already done 3X!), letting him know that if there were any other incidents of running away from me we would leave. He was pretty good after that. He'd get ahead of me, but then stop when he got to the steps.
Just before his class started today, we met his swimming teacher and I described BOY as "incredibly enthusiastic about taking swimming lessons, how he loves the water and is fearless-- with impulse control being really...well, minimal at present." The teacher smiled. It seems that they weren't too concerned and thought it was great that he loved the water. And it WAS great! He did so well! I watched him from the waiting room, sitting by the huge glass window looking into the pool area. He kept popping off the stairs and wanting to go out into the pool with the teacher every time, his turn or not, but the teacher handled it well. And BOY just thrived. He practiced kicking, blew bubbles, tried using his arms and just played in the water. And every once in a while he would move his goggles up to the top of his head and readjust them, before putting them back over his eyes. Just that simple gesture...and he looked SO big. So mature. So "heading toward 5ish." It was a joyful experience to see him today and to glimpse the bigger boy lurking underneath, who will be here all too quickly.
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