Water Episodes

6months ago, I took Bloom to the swimming pool- and at the behest of an acquaintance, joined him in a class. After seeking his reassurance several times, I did 'invest' on a kickboard, a pair of goggles, and a swimsuit. He refused to let go of me - (1) He was very drawn into the baby pool and (2) He wanted to play with the kickboard. My encouragements grew into pleads, and transformed into anxious forcing and then to some level of threatening. Just the previous day did I spend a considerable amount on all the purchases - all on his assurances. Worse, he would not even wear the goggles.

The husband reassured me of getting him used up to the water, and took him to the pool a couple of weeks. Then, there was no progress, and I kind of reconciled with the fact that Bloom needs to get over his fear of waters. There was no looking back thereafter, except for a huge sigh whenever I chanced upon the goggles.

Two weeks ago, knowing two of his friends go to a swimcoach at 10 and 11AM on Sundays, I took him to the pool - just to get him used. No plans, whatsoever.

Week one- he would just stick to the ledge of the pool doing stuff like: Counting to check how long I stayed underwater, marveling at the elegance of his friends somersault inside the waters, using the swimcap as mugs to fill water in and play. He just wouldn't relent to my multiple requests of getting inside the waters. For a continuous 2 hours.

Week Two - After an hour or so, inspired by his friends, he finally relented to jump inside from the ledge. And everytime, I took a step backwards, increasing his distance from the ledge. Before we knew it, he was jumping atleast 1mtr from the ledge. And he did enjoy. Much to my awe, he asked for the goggles and continued to wear it all along. That day, he was all narration to his dad.

Week Three - As soon as I caught him from his jumps, I slowly dipped his head into the pool. There were coughs the first couple of times. I introduced him to the art of 'taking a deep breath, and holding the breath while underwater'. He was completely bowled over by the beauty of the underwater. He requested each one of us to say 'Hi' underwater, and repeated it multiple times over and over. I was beaming. He was more than beaming. This morning, as soon as he woke up, he went on asking, "I want to see underwater. It is very beautiful."

This was a time for me to narrate stories to him, and I showed him Google images of the real underwater world. Assured him to take snorkelling if he learnt swimming et al. He is very much looking forward to the first week of April, when the coach has assured to take him in. I hope he enjoys swimming.