Mermaid Who Swims
Callie is obsessed with mermaids. She was a mermaid for Halloween last year, she loves Ariel, the "selfish mermaids" from Peter Pan and Tinkerbell books, and others she has seen along the way. Yet, even with the motivation for being like a mermaid, she had yet to learn how to swim. She has taken summer lessons for 2 years, and no teacher would push through her negotiating and cries of fear. I think she has a keen sense of danger and the possibilities of danger and this, along with her persuasive language, has limited her. She definitely has plenty of ability. Lets face it, I have never needed to carry band-aids with me because she has never had a skinned knee. Avery may be a different story. Well, Callie is now an official mermaid, but "not a selfish one." This summer, while living in Phoenix, I was able to get Callie enrolled in the last session of swimming with her cousins Gage and Bella. Their teacher Allison was excellent. Instead of trying to convince Callie it was a good idea to swim with her face in the water, she would say in a sweet voice, "We swim with our eyes in the water," and then gently grab her and make her do it the right way. The result was amazing. After eight 1 hour lessons, Callie is a swimmer. In fact, so much of a swimmer it is hard to get her out of a pool. She can dive, do the crawl, and breast stroke (which she calls "the mermaid"). She still is a little sketchy with her breath-taking, but I do feel confident she would make it to the side if she fell in. I am so proud of her and relieved. There is not anything better to do in the heat of Arizona than swim. 
Callie is obsessed with mermaids. She was a mermaid for Halloween last year, she loves Ariel, the "selfish mermaids" from Peter Pan and Tinkerbell books, and others she has seen along the way. Yet, even with the motivation for being like a mermaid, she had yet to learn how to swim. She has taken summer lessons for 2 years, and no teacher would push through her negotiating and cries of fear. I think she has a keen sense of danger and the possibilities of danger and this, along with her persuasive language, has limited her. She definitely has plenty of ability. Lets face it, I have never needed to carry band-aids with me because she has never had a skinned knee. Avery may be a different story. Well, Callie is now an official mermaid, but "not a selfish one." This summer, while living in Phoenix, I was able to get Callie enrolled in the last session of swimming with her cousins Gage and Bella. Their teacher Allison was excellent. Instead of trying to convince Callie it was a good idea to swim with her face in the water, she would say in a sweet voice, "We swim with our eyes in the water," and then gently grab her and make her do it the right way. The result was amazing. After eight 1 hour lessons, Callie is a swimmer. In fact, so much of a swimmer it is hard to get her out of a pool. She can dive, do the crawl, and breast stroke (which she calls "the mermaid"). She still is a little sketchy with her breath-taking, but I do feel confident she would make it to the side if she fell in. I am so proud of her and relieved. There is not anything better to do in the heat of Arizona than swim. 
3 comments:
I'm so proud of our Little Mermaid! I, too, knew she could do it with the right teacher. Gage and Bella LOVED being with Callie and still talk about it.
Callie is a joy! I love her careful and studied look at swimming. When she finally decided she could do it, she, of course, could. I loved getting in the pool with her and letting her show me her skills. xoxo
I am so happy to see Callie is such a great swimmer. I loved seeing the family while you guys were in Reno. Love you all!
Post a Comment