Bravery

It was a tough week in the water for Luke - at first it was just really challenging being in the deep end of the pool for his new swim lessons - he really wasn't ready. Then the "ASSistant" swim instructor almost let him drown on Wednesday. I was just about to jump in and grab him when he finally was able to reach out and grab the side of the pool. It was scary for him and after that he didn't want to take his turns. When it was over I asked him if he wanted to go back to the first class in the shallow end and get some more practice in there for awhile and he said YES. So the next day we went back to the steps, but he was still nervous... and tired, he'd been up twice in the night with nightmares of deep water and sharks... but he got lucky and neither of the other kids showed up and he got the new instructor all to himself. They really worked on getting his confidence back and it was the best thing. He even jumped off the diving board into the deep end (with a life jacket on). Then today we had a birthday party to go to at a lake beach. With a shallow pool, a dock and then a floating dock with diving boards and water slides. I had thought he'd be sticking in the shallow end, but the other kids all had on their life jackets and could dog-paddle to the floating dock and were having a blast on the slides and jumping off... and so Luke decided he was going too - all his friends were out there. And he did it. He dog-paddled, and tried some of the swim class moves, and dog-paddled and floated on his back... and he eventually got out there and climbed up the ladder all by himself... and before long he was jumping off the diving board, sliding down with whoops and hollers... and running and jumping off the end of the dock. I WISH I had brought my camera. Priceless, the bravery he showed today compared to two days ago - like the water-boy I know he is... a fish, really. He didn't come out until he was blue and his lips wouldn't stop shivering. He told me afterward he felt safe because he was with his friends. Good kid.