During the week of August 5-9th, the boys were enrolled in swim lessons with a wonderful woman named Debbie that many of my neighbors here in Payson had recommended. They all told me that your kids will “learn more in one day in her class – then in a whole week at the city pool.” Sounded pretty good to me! And although she was a little bit more expensive – I agreed – she was worth every penny!
The first day the kids were there she had all three of my boys putting their heads under water and opening up their eyes. Say what? They HATE putting their head under water. She also had all of them (including little Dawson) jumping off the diving board and swimming under water through hoops by the end of the week as well as swimming on their backs. She was amazing and a no nonsense type woman that just expected all the kids to perform and overcome any fears of water they had. She was great with them but VERY FIRM. Exactly what they needed to get them to do hard things they were afraid of – and boy howdy were those kids proud of themselves once they realized they could do those things she wanted them too. You should have seen them beam as I told their Dad all about the amazing things I had watched them do in swim lessons.
However, don’t let all that fool you that it was easy peasy and all it took was a firm hand to get them in the water. Oh no! In fact there were tears and fights every morning because the kids were terrified of what they might be expected to do. And on several occasions the kids were so afraid of getting in the water that Debbie asked me to gently “drop” them into the deep end so they could learn how to ladder climb up to the top of the water and breath appropriately because they simply wouldn’t do it on their own. She was always there to help them, but they were so scared and would cry and scream and act hysterical when asked to do certain activities (at least that was true for Daws and Harry. Brans was a champ in the water). So it was a HARD week. But you know what – they really did learn a LOT in one week and next year we will be going to Debbie two times during the summer just to help the kids get more comfortable in the water. To me learning to swim is a life skill that everyone should know and I’m okay spending a little money on it.
Below are some pictures I took throughout the week we were there – in no particular order.
Debbie had a play area off the side of the pool with a playground and garden area where the kids not in lessons could play. It was heaven sent.
See the terror in his eyes?
We celebrated at the end of the week with snow cones all around!
