First up was Safety Town for Jake. Jake was already excited for the class, but it got even better when he had 3 of his classmates from DK with him as well. Brenden also wanted very much to be in the class. He was very sad when I told him he needed to be older and he then proceeded to try to convince me that he was 5 so he could stay in Safety Town with his brother. So far this week Jake has learned about swimming, bike, electrical, and bus safety, they even got to ride a school bus around town on Wednesday. He has also been working on memorizing his address and my cell phone number, he's doing really well with it - 3 stickers today! It has brought back a lot of memories for me, I loved safety town when I was kid! It has also been nice to have a couple of hours each day with just Brenden, I forgot how much calmer and quieter he is when Jake isn't around.
Brenden and I pick Jake up at 3pm each day from Safety Town and go directly to Swim Lessons at 3:30pm. They are taking lessons through Dexter Community Education which is where I taught lessons for the first year I was back in Michigan. Believe it or not, this is the first time I have signed the boys up for lessons! I know shame on me for waiting for so long. Part of the reason we waited was because Jake was very against actual swimming and putting his face in the water. He loves playing in the pool, but only on his terms. Knowing how stubborn he can be we figured he would just fight us and the instructors so we decided to wait until he showed more interest and comfort. After buying him some goggles this summer he has turned into a total water baby with much less fear of swimming and exploring the pool. Brenden, on the other hand, has always been comfortable in the water, that is until this summer rolled around. He still loves going to the pool, but is acting more like Jake used to and is now reluctant to put his head in the water, he doesn't like his goggles because he says they're too tight, and he's much more afraid to go in the deeper water even when I'm holding him. So anyway, we thought it would be a good idea to try swim lessons with Jake showing more interest and to try to keep Brenden interested before he gets too afraid.
The lessons have been going good and bad. Jake is doing great, the instructor has already told us that he is ready for the next level and has started him on some of those skills. He is also practicing every time we go to the pool, its very cute to watch his erratic and not so efficient freestyle. Unfortunately Brenden has only been in the water for about 15 minutes total over the first 4 lessons. However, he has at least tried to get in 2 of the days and when he is out he is watching the other children work on their skills. Its pretty clear that Brenden is having most of his issues with being comfortable with his surroundings. He keeps telling me each day that he doesn't want to go in the big pool, but wants to go to our pool - meaning Ann Arbor Country Club where I manage the pool and coach diving. Keep in mind that AACC has a much bigger pool than the high school where the lessons are being taught, but it also has a separate shallow end for the younger ones to play, which is where Brenden spends most of his time. He doesn't seem to mind the teacher, who is very good with the kids, but he his definitely not comfortable when he's in the water at lessons. It became even more clear that it has a lot to do with his surroundings when this afternoon at AACC he started trying some of the skills he was afraid to do at lessons. I'm trying not to push him too much and make him get in the water at lessons because I don't want to take away from the other children's time and I don't want to make him hate swimming. I do think its been good for him to at least be at the lessons and have to watch class each day. This has also been a good opportunity for us to work on communication skills and for him to tell me how he is feeling. I guess I shouldn't have waited so long with Brenden, but it seems to be paying off with Jake.
Here are a few pictures from lessons:
And from at AACC:
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