Comin' Along

Ethan began swim lessons last October. He has pretty much had two to three lessons a week since then, except for taking the summer off. At least one lesson per week is private. I have spent enough on lessons to run a small country.

We enrolled him in swim after soccer didn't seem to interest him. He would spend the entire soccer game looking at flowers or chasing squirrels. Hm, maybe team sports isn't for him. Swimming would also help his motor coordination and overall muscle tone. Little did we know at the time that he would sink like a rock. The first 6 months had me wondering if he would ever even be able to float, much less swim.

Something this semester has clicked - we have a long way to go, but he has improved so much his private instructor thinks he may be able to do the Special Olympics in Searcy in May. I am so proud of him. Every time he accomplishes something or reaches a milestone I am just so happy for him - and he is happy for himself.





At the end of the lesson his instructor asked him to do the backstroke. Being his stubborn self he declined and got out of the pool and came to get his towel. He was drying off when the instructor and rest of the class got out of the pool. Ethan promptly dropped the towel, jumped into the pool (yep, that's right, no one was around in the pool) and began to do the backstroke. He did it out to the line, turned around and did the the backstroke back to us at the side of the pool. I was angry at him for jumping in without supervision, but at the same time what could I say - he was able to do it!!! I was stern on the outside and busting with pride on the inside :-)