We had a family goal this summer - to get our oldest child (at least) to be able to swim on her own. We devoted our summer to this, knowing that lessons run 4 days a week June - August. My intention was to have both K and C take lessons together while L and I watched on the sidelines. I figured L was too little to really get anything out of lessons yet and that it would be better to save our money for next year but Kevin thought differently and signed L up, too (I am so very glad he did!).The girls both amazed us with their swimming abilities. K is becoming quite the strong swimmer and C is right behind her. We surpassed our family goal, for sure! Perhaps this might prevent those horrible drowning nightmares I experienced in my last pregnancy from reoccurring. Oh, and speaking of my shy C, she has so much more confidence in life now thanks to these lessons. I am so proud of them!
As for L, I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when he took to the water like a fish, or should I say shark? Upon finishing his first lesson, he informed us that he wanted to scuba dive with sharks as soon as possible, a dream I promised I would fulfill one day in the distant future (my dream for many years, too!). I told him that if he wanted to scuba dive he had to become a strong swimmer first. I think he took that as a challenge because he became very serious about his lessons. I wish I could have recorded the intense look in his eyes and huge smile that never left his face. He is quite determined.
After the first session the instructors changed and this brought about a whole new level in swimming love for L. As soon as he saw his new instructor he whispered to me, "Mama, she has hair that is blue like the ocean!" When she asked him his name he responded "Shark". So that's what she has called him all summer long. Actually the whole pool staff now calls him that. I am guessing you can imagine that he is quite smitten. He keeps asking me to officially change his name to Shark but I told him it might be best to keep it as a nickname for now.
I just can't get over how much this little boy of mine, who up until this summer had never been in a deep pool before, has accomplished over the past couple of months. He amazes me. The pool has become his home and no matter how rough our a day we are having, as soon as he hops in that pool he is nothing but shark smiles. I am so glad he has found what he loves. I just might have to take him scuba diving a lot sooner than I had planned. I guess I had better get back in shape with my swimming skills, too!
