When Pigs Fly

Three weeks ago, if Dominic were to accidentally fall into the pool, he would've sunk straight to the bottom. Poor kid was terrified of even putting his face in the water, let alone going under. His kicking ability was slim to none... just awkward, jerky leg movements. Holding his breath? Nuh-uh.

Enter this woman and her amazing 15-year-old son.

We hired a private instructor last year for 2 months... and nada. Absolutely nothing.

(Although she was super-nice.)

So this year, we took Dom to a program that was a little more... intense.

It was really rough the first couple of days. I'll admit I even teared up a little bit as I watched his little head get held underwater while he flailed. (Seriously sounds sooo much worse than it was.)
But our house is surrounded by pools and my two very curious boys have been pushing crates up against the fence to peer over at the neighbor's new pool... and I was getting very nervous.

So guess what... after 2 days (2 DAYS!) Dominic was "swimming"...

...meaning he could hold his breath, kick his little legs, face down in the water, arms stretched out in front (we're not talking freestyle, here) and able to make it 8-10 feet from the center of the pool to the edge and crawl on out by himself! That is huge, huge, huge for us! And gives me a little peace of mind.

His instructor was so cute. All four kiddies swam on that second day, and she sat them on the ledge of the pool, got them all to stop crying for two seconds and told them, with such excitement and admiration, "Remember today. Today is the day you swam." Dominic looked back at me and managed a tiny little smile. Then in the car on the way home, he piped up from the back seat, "Mom, today is the day I swam!"

Now... after 3 weeks( and 1 more to go) Dominic can independently jump off the diving board, and swim face-down the entire length (LENGTH not width) of the pool to the other side... coming up for breaths 3 or 4 times.

And now... my little boy (who cried every single day and every single 30 minutes of every single lesson for the first 2 weeks) LOVES to swim! Loves it to pieces! :) No tears, only smiles and giggles and "I did its!". So, so awesome.

He is so proud of himself. It has really given him a confidence boost.

Whenever I try and yell him that something is hard now, he reminds me. "But Mom, I can DO hard things, remember?" (That was our mantra during the harrowing 2 weeks of car rides on the way to swim lessons every morning. Haha! )

Way to go, Dom. You can do hard things. And I think we may have just found your niche!

Check out his skills! (And this was only day 4!)