Jonas and Swimming

I take the blame.  I take all the blame.  I can't say that for most things, but I'm afraid I have to for this issue, because it is my fault.

Jonas gets to go to Australia as an ambassador; see some kangaroos and koalas, eat alligator, learn how to use a bullwhip and boomerang, see the Sidney Opera House, and swim the Great Barrier Reef.  Wow!!! 

Wait a minute.  Swim the Great Barrier Reef.   SWIM the Great Barrier Reef.  That actually requires swimming doesn't it?!?!?!?!

Ever since Jonas was old enough to go to swim lessons by himself we have known that he has issues with water.  Well, it isn't the water, per se. It is the actual lack of breathable air in the water.  I mean throw a kid, who on his best days has a (maybe not so) irrational fear of things covering his mouth, whose chest constricts severely and semblance of rational thought is non-existant at the hint of not being able to breathe, into the water (which defines the phrase "not being able to breathe") and what do you expect?!?!?

We worked with it a quite a bit with him in those formative years, trying to convince him to put his face in the water for longer than a micro nano second.  But this was met with varying degrees of success.  So we kind of gave up (in the form of lack of funds/time for swim lessons and a plethora of other wholesome activities).

But when this Mount Everest (in the form of a deep ocean) loomed into our path, panic started to set in.  He actually has to go under the water for an extended period of time.  Sure, he'll have snorkelling apparatus on but we are talking irrational fear, as in makes no sense, uncontrollable.  We haven't prepared him for this.  Our parental responsibility is severely lacking.

So in an effort to prepare him in a rush, we enrolled him for two swim lessons, one at Tanglewilde Pool and one through Lacey Parks and Recreation. To support that we gave him lots of pep talks about how much fun it was going to be to see all the creatures of the GBR. (As a side note, maybe the pep talks were working. He chose as his big project for his Ambassadorship, to do a display on the animals of the GBR).

And he was actually EXCITED about taking swim lessons.

He did well, too. He worked hard getting used to having water on his face, and having his face in the water.

He concentrated on doing the strokes and everything just like the teacher asked him to.

It was great to see.  He became more comfortable in the water.

Which was all I had hoped for given the time constraints, that he wouldn't get in the cold Great Barrier Reef water, panic and then drown.  Or even worse refuse to get in.

And he did well on the Great Barrier Reef, despite the conditions.  I'll let him tell the details (because he WILL get finished writing down his experiences in Australia and I WILL get them typed up and sent out).  But briefly, it was extremely windy and they didn't have a suit that really fit him (he is not really THAT small, is he?!?!). 

But he still went and had fun doing it.

Whew! Crisis averted.

But wait a minute, is that a mountain I see looming in the distance?!?!?! It is hard to tell. If it is it is a huge, gigantic, stupendous, collosal mountain.... And it has

Official Boy Scouts of America Swim Test

written on it in big, bold Times New Roman lettering.

Jump in water over your head swim 25 feet, execute a sharp turn and swim 25 feet back.

And then:

Swim 75 feet with a front power stroke and swim back with a back resting stroke.

But (and here my evil pride creeps in) Jonas jumped right in and is trying to climb that mountain. It has been great to witness.  He works hard every time we go swimming to be able to reach the top of this mountain.   With his Dad's help he has been able to learn the right positioning of his arms and legs so that he moves through the water.  He has been working hard to be able to take a breath without coming to a complete stop.  We aren't quite to the top of this mamoth mountain yet,  but he has been working hard!!!

And why is this all my fault?!?!

Because it was my genes that gave him the asthma which leads to this (maybe not so) irrational fear of being suffocated in the water.  And oh, I can soooooo relate.  While I love to swim, am pretty comfortable in the water and wouldn't drown if my boat sank I couldn't do a front stroke with my face in the water if my life depended on it.  But please don't tell Jonas that.  Isn't it our job to help make them better than we are?!?!