My Middle Child Finally Swims

Sorry, but I just had to share this one.  My middle child, who has learning difficulties, has taken lessons for over 10 years.  Yes, that’s right, lessons for 10 years, along with weekly swimming at his school, and swimming with us, his family on top.  It’s been a long and difficult road for him, but he’s finally done it.

For years, he screamed at the sight of water, or even at the thought of jumping into the shallow end.  We closed our ears and persevered, and eventually he made it in the water.

That was no small feat in itself, no matter how simple it might seem at first.

Determined to keep going, he was signed up for a whole summer holiday one year, every morning, in a group of 6.  When they all moved up to the next class, he struggled along with trying to get his feet off the bottom of the pool as he walked along, his hands doing swimming motions on the top.

Three years later, he was still in the bottom group and his lessons kept going.

Thankfully, his school began swimming, which meant he could go away from lessons with little ones when he was growing fast, and every week since, they’ve persevered and kept chugging along.

Three weeks ago, we all went swimming, and he sailed along the top of the water.  His feet didn’t touch the bottom once, but he was still frightened of going out of his depth.

It’s one thing being able to swim, and quite another being able to swim out of your depth.

To let you all know, he came home on Friday with a certificate from school, to say he’d jumped in at the deep end.  It might not seem much to most of you, but for him, it’s HUGE.

It just goes to show, that perseverance and patience can win in the long-term when the brain says no.  As a very active child, swimming was important to him, and for us too, knowing that if he fell into water, he’d at least have a fighting chance of possibly getting himself out again.

I can’t even begin to say how much this small thing means to us as a family.  Way to go middler, you’ve done yourself proud….