Mike had the night off from work, so I got a brainstorm. We picked the boys up from school that afternoon and headed back to the pool in the hopes that Liam wouldn't be so afraid to get in the water if we were with him. Success! Not only did Liam go in the water, he loved it so much that he didn't want to get out. Max, too -- in the changing room afterward, he kept asking to go back in "big bathtub."
But did this success help with the swimming lessons? Of course not. The momentum was broken on Tuesday, which was a "safety" day for the kids, meaning they had to watch safety videos and weren't allowed to go back in the pool. Wednesday rolled around, and by that time, Liam was back to his old trick of staying on his towel. He did manage to dangle his feet in the water a little bit, but that was about the extent of his involvement.
By the end of the week, he was throwing such horrifying fits at the mere suggestion of going to swimming lessons that we decided to throw in the towel. I guess he's just not ready yet. A mommy/daddy-and-me type of class would probably be much better for him, so he can get involved and still have us with him, but the only one they offer around here is three times as expensive as swimming lessons at the pool. So I guess we'll try again next year, but I'm genuinely pitying the teacher who gets them then. Max will be old enough to start lessons, so he and Liam will be in the same group, along with cousin Jimmy. The three of them will be enough to terrorize any unsuspecting swimming instructor.
In the meantime, the boys are loving playing in their kiddie pool, and I have plans to take them back to the big pool at least a few more times this summer, in the hopes that the more comfortable they become in the water, the more likely it will be that they'll actually participate in swimming lessons next summer. Keep your fingers crossed!
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