Joel had his first swimming lesson today, or at least he was meant to. He has already missed the first two weeks of the course due to him having Chicken Pox. I have been psyching him up for days, trying to get him to think about how exciting it's going to be to learn to swim with all the other little boys and girls but it has fallen on deaf ears. He had decided that swimming wasn't for him before we even left the house.
He whined the whole way to the sports centre, "I don't want to go", "I don't like it", "I miss my toys and want to go home" (he always says this whenever we go anywhere). I knew I was flogging a proverbial dead horse as he's a stubborn little boy but I persisted in the hope he would change his mind.
We got as far as the changing room and he continued to whine, this time he went full out for the emotional guilt trip with "but I'm scared mummy" and "I'm still spotty", this I can identify with as lets face it no one likes putting their bathing suit on. The other mums cast me sympathetic looks and one or two offered Joel words of encouragement but he was having none of it.
Refusing to be beaten by a four year old and after a great deal of effort I wrestled him into his little swim shorts. After more tears and a bit of screaming (him not me, although by this point I felt like it) I agreed that this week we could just watch from the side. I thought that this was a fair compromise as he was quite frantic and I knew the only way I would get him in to the water was if I threw him and although I was tempted I decided against this option. He then explained that he would only watch from the side if he was fully clothed. He had obviously figured out that this would minimise the risk of me making him go in to the water. So I got him dressed and we watched for five minutes before he announced he wanted to go home and started to whimper again.
My two year old Louie, who now has Chicken Pox, watched this whole palaver with interest and as we were leaving the poolside he decided that he wanted to go swimming and so ensues a 30 minute tantrum from him. Throw me a life line and save my soul.
He whined the whole way to the sports centre, "I don't want to go", "I don't like it", "I miss my toys and want to go home" (he always says this whenever we go anywhere). I knew I was flogging a proverbial dead horse as he's a stubborn little boy but I persisted in the hope he would change his mind.
We got as far as the changing room and he continued to whine, this time he went full out for the emotional guilt trip with "but I'm scared mummy" and "I'm still spotty", this I can identify with as lets face it no one likes putting their bathing suit on. The other mums cast me sympathetic looks and one or two offered Joel words of encouragement but he was having none of it.
Refusing to be beaten by a four year old and after a great deal of effort I wrestled him into his little swim shorts. After more tears and a bit of screaming (him not me, although by this point I felt like it) I agreed that this week we could just watch from the side. I thought that this was a fair compromise as he was quite frantic and I knew the only way I would get him in to the water was if I threw him and although I was tempted I decided against this option. He then explained that he would only watch from the side if he was fully clothed. He had obviously figured out that this would minimise the risk of me making him go in to the water. So I got him dressed and we watched for five minutes before he announced he wanted to go home and started to whimper again.
My two year old Louie, who now has Chicken Pox, watched this whole palaver with interest and as we were leaving the poolside he decided that he wanted to go swimming and so ensues a 30 minute tantrum from him. Throw me a life line and save my soul.
5 comments:
I too have enroled my son in a swimming course and we've missed the first one (because mummy couldn't get herself in gear and book it, not because of any illness!)
He went to an intensive course (every morning over the summer hols for 10 days at 8am) and he'd stand there with his towel wrapped firmly around his shoulders until the moment he had to get in the water, then he'd whip it off and jump in!
He was 5, what on earth was he covering up!
That's made me laugh, I will let you know how we get on next week. I refuse to be beaten and I know he's going to love it.
Next time, take that bottle of vodka you were talking about a couple of posts ago. It'll all go... wait for it - SWIMMINGLY!
That's hilarious, I think the only way to change his mind is probably to ban swimming... watch him develop a swimming obsession then!
My 4 year old has had swimming lessons for a year with no problems, then before Xmas it all became too much for her and she and her friend would take it turns to cry through the lesson. We gave up this term and now she wants to go back.
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