Thursday, July 23, 2009

Forgive Me

I'm going to brag on my son. Do you remember the apprehensive little boy who started swim in the beginning of June?

Look at him now!!

Completely comfortable in the water. Notice how he is not clinging to the side?


Look at those arms go! Nice kick, I only see boiling water; no splashing here.


Well, maybe a bit of splashing to get us to the wall before we run out of breath.


The look back to see how far he went "All by himself."


Taking a slow & steady breath before he goes back under.


I captured his progress yesterday afternoon & was just busting with pride. Ms. Amy & I kept beaming at one another. For those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook you may be wondering why we were at swim yesterday when our last lesson was supposed to be last Thursday?

Well, Garrett asked to continue his lessons. I was a little worried about continuing because it seemed that going every day, four days in a row, for six weeks was wearing on him. So, we had a family discussion that night where Garrett explained to us in one sentence why he kept wanting to go "I want to swim like Abagail." After that and a promise made to go to lessons happily we signed him up again. So far this week he's kept his promise and made a breakthrough. I am just so proud of him.

We've decided that with Garrett & athletics at this early age we will follow his lead and not push him into something he doesn't show an interest in himself. Within that our only rule will be to finish what you start. So far this summer that has worked for us but I'm sure as he changes & grows our approach may too. But for now, this has been a great experience.

We offered him the opportunity to take swim with Ms. Amy & he took it. Now, he has developed a life saving skill. Amy has the children swim without floating devices & teaches them to see underwater without goggles. At first some parents wanted those items with their children in the pool but she wants to teach them to survive in the water. That is the first objective.

After hearing on the radio that at least 50 children have drowned in the DFW area this year alone I am eternally grateful. Garrett is now comfortable in the water. Do you remember the angst from falling into the pool? He is now practicing falling off a step & learning to get himself back to the step. He can also pull himself out of "the deep" as Garrett respectfully calls it.

Amy has been wonderful with Garrett & knows just how to push him without sending him over the edge. If you are in the North Dallas area and looking for an instructor, she is amazing and I would love to pass on her information. We go to Ms. Amy but I believe if you have a pool there is an option for her to go to you.

Allright, I'm done beaming at my little one in a public forum. But seriously, I'm just so proud of him.

lovemon

5 comments:

Lee said...

Woo hoo, Garrett!! Brag on mum. Congratulations on a summer well spent, swimming is such a joy :)

Becky said...

You have every reason to be proud! Way to go Garrett!

Jayne said...

So glad to hear he is doing so well! YEah Garrett!!!

Lacey said...

Way to go G!! That's awesome :)

Jennifer said...

Great job, Garrett!