Today my son finished a 6 week session of swimming lessons. Apparently, I had unrealistic expectations about what he would accomplish in these six weeks. For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you know that my son wouldn't be called an "easy" child and this blog will come as no surprise to you. For those of you who don't know the character of my son, let me describe the last six weeks for you.
You need to understand some background. My son has been swimming in our neighborhood pool now for 3 years; however, he has never, I repeat never, been willing to try and swim without a floaty, life jacket, or inner tube to help. I decided that I wanted him to swim on his own this summer; after all, he is five now. Sounds like a reasonable goal right? Well it isn't if you are talking about my son! Before the first week of swimming lessons, I had purchased this swimming dog my son had seen on TV as motivation for trying his best. Of course I agreed to this idea- how much could this little toy cost anyway? Well, $30 later I had really high hopes!!!
For the first swimming lesson, I had to sit on the side of the pool with my son the entire time because he wouldn't even put his foot in the water. All they were asking was for him float around on two long noodles; honestly, this wasn't something new to him. My son just didn't like being told what to do. All of the other mothers, all my friends, were over on the bleachers chatting and having fun- but not me. Do I need to tell you that I wasn't very happy?
The second swimming lessons were even worse. For the first hour, he wouldn't even go anywhere near the water. We were given permission to stay for the second lesson because he did nothing during the first! A very kind teacher tried his hand with my son but with little success. After 15 minutes, I finally walked over to them and told my son "GET IN THE POOL" through gritted teeth. Then the teacher looked at me and asked "has he been in a pool before?"; I answered "yes, for the last three years". I knew I didn't want to hear anymore but the teacher then explained that my son had told him that he had never been in the water and this was a first. OH, do I need to tell you I wasn't very happy? The man asked if he would be OK to grab my son and hold him in the water. I was happy. I thought someone needs to take charge of my son and then things would change (right?). Well, the very kind, but now deaf man, grabbed my son and just held him while he walked through the pool. My son screamed NOOOOOOO, NOOOOOO, NOOOOO for and entire thirty minutes!!! Yup, everyone in the pool heard him screaming at the top of his lungs their entire lesson too. Do I need to tell you I was very very unhappy?
Later that night, my husband took my son into his bedroom alone and "motivated" him to obey. With the threat of no stuffed animals, no cartoons with daddy and more "motivation", the subsequent lessons went a little better. Throughout each lesson though my son still managed to get the teacher to hold him, give him all of her attention, and make sure people were always watching. Will he be swimming by himself this summer? So glad you asked. No. Before swimming lessons, my husband and I made a really big deal about taking his life vest away. This vest worked great last summer and probably would have served us well this summer too. However, we picked our battle with him and now we must win. His life vest is gone and I will not buy another one. He does however, have a new noodle to swim with around the pool. I know it may look like he won the battle but he didn't!!! You believe me don't you?
Even though I know my son inherited this stubbornness from my husband (honest), I realize that I can be like that when God is trying to teach me a lesson also. I may not be learning to swim in a pool but I am still trying to learn how to stay afloat in this crazy world. There are so many habits and hang-ups that keep weighing me down that sometimes I start to sink. All of us, my husband, myself, his teachers, tried telling my son that this was for his own good; but he still doesn't see it yet. I feel so passionately about the idea that all of the rules that God gives us, are really for our own good. God is NOT a mean ruler, but a Father who looks out for us. I just hope that next time God tries to teach me how to stay afloat in this world, I am diligent at learning the lesson rather than screaming at the top of my lungs NOOOOOO for everyone to see. How about you? Is there something God is trying to teach you that you are stubbornly refusing to learn? I want to hear about your victories today.
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