Arking the Full Circle

Well, I've come full circle here on this blog. Once again it's a full moon and I can't sleep. I celebrated my 40th birthday on Monday. My 3-year-old celebrated swimming the pool's width during his swim lesson that day. I am so proud of him! Earlier this summer when we visited my parents, he slipped into the pool with just a noodle and without his "bubble." His "bubble" is the Swim and Play trainer from Kiefer products (http://www.kiefer.com/Kiefer/dept.asp?0=dept%2Easp%2Cdept%5Fid%3D6%26Tree%3D%2CLearn%20To%20Swim&dept_id=65&Gift=false&GiftID=&mscssid=5CCE35A12C7E4E08B65EA43087E415C0). It is not a life-saving device, but it gave us peace of mind when he was in the pool. Anyway, back to my story, the noodle slipped away from him and thanks to my mom's watchful eye, we were able to avert a drowning. It scared the adults. We told him he was never to be around the pool without his bubble.

When we returned home, he started private swim lessons. Plus he was afraid to be in the pool without his bubble. When his instructor mentioned him swimming without the bubble, he became hysterical. We had to stop the lesson after 15 minutes.

Thanks to the lessons and many pool "play" sessions this summer, he told me last week, "I hate my bubble." We talked about no bubble, no Deep End. He likes to hang out in the deep end where his big brother is. We went to the pool twice without the bubble during the weekend as it was lost. I later found it hidden under some coats in the laundry room.

Monday at his lesson he told his instructor, "I lost my bubble." She started him a few feet from the edge and kept backing away each time as he swam to it. At one point, he was three lanes away from the edge. The next thing I knew, he had swam across, with her next to him. She told me he kept asking her to hold him, so she'd "tickle" him, but not hold him.

That was the major milestone we celebrated on Monday. We've made an arc from his pool fear to him conquering the pool.