I guess you can consider Big L the professional. He knows the drill- he knows just where to go, where to sit and dives right in when it's his turn. He also knows that when you have a good lesson you get a lollipop after. And Big L always gets his lollipop.
Little L is a whole different story. This Mommy knew full well it would be different, because, let's face it...Little L is just not quite the 'sport' that Big L is. And I use the term 'sport' in the most unsporty way. Big L has just always been game for anything and anyone. but the little one is picky. and she'll let u know it.
Poor teacher Rachel. She never stood a chance.
Years past I secretly side-eyed the mother of the child who was screaming in the pool. I mean, a 15 minute lesson and the kid is screaming the whole time, day after day, lesson after lesson. And now here we were- Little L's first lesson and it suddenly hit me...I'm going to be THAT MOTHER!
Sure enough as soon as her big toe hit the water Little L started crying.
Oh, here we go. She started crying and she didn't stop. Now she's clutching the teacher (who is all of 19 years old) who is just trying to hold Little L at a safe enough distance to keep her now runny nose from making any sort of contact with her taut, toned and tanned skin.
I'm starting to sweat, I'm panning around me looking for the ominous stares, but it's 9AM, no one else is there- I'm in the clear.
To my surprise Little L pulls through that first day, she bucked up for the last part of her lesson and made it thru another 2 lessons before the inevitable happened.
Little L didn't get her lollipop.
On the day of lesson 3 Little L decided she wasn't going to swim that day. And while she quickly gave up her initial protest upon entering the pool that was about all she did. The rest of the her 15 min. were spent completely shut down towards her teacher, her mother, her brother and her grandmother. There would be no kicks, no smiles, no fun. All of our encouraging cheers fell on deaf ears. It was like we weren't even there. Little L was NOT going to swim. She curled up her little body like an invalid and allowed her teacher to pull her thru the water until it was time to go.
"But wait, mom, what about my lollipop?"
If you're a firm believer in choices and consequences, well, you can just picture what happened next. Little L didn't get her lolli and she was none too pleased about it. She was crying and screaming and having her little fit. I didn't even have a chance to feel guilty about the damn lolli because I was too busy having to reprimand Naughty Grandmother(NG) who was trying to sneak a lollipop for her behind my back! Thankfully NG was the one who taught me that one stern look can instill doubt and fear and so she(NG) quietly sulked back to the lollipop container and put it back.
It's my turn now, these are MY rules! ha.
This all bring us to today. Swim lesson number 4. Guess who dove right in, did her kicks for teacher Rachel and even smiled while having her lesson? That's right, Little L. And she was SO happy and proud of herself when she got to pick out her lollipop today. She chose green. Just in case u were wondering.
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