Learning to Swim

Lily took her first swimming lesson yesterday after school.  She was so eager and excited and felt safe in her floaty bathing suit.  I know that she will soon have to give it up in order to really learn to swim and trust her own body in the water rather than these floatation devices, but I wanted her to feel safe and secure for her first class.  Her teacher is Wendy Baker, an ex-pat from England who has recently returned to the island and has decided to make Barbados her home.  She holds the lessons at her home in a beautiful swimming pool and I must say, she has the knack.  Games, songs, and fun props had Lily in the water immediately, although she did have a hard time following directions because she was so excited by the little rubber fishies and swimming noodles.

The class was small, only three children participating at once, so Lily was able to get individual attention.  She enjoyed the kicking and paddling, even liked blowing bubbles, but was less secure with putting her face in the water or floating on her back.  My heart broke as I watched the fear creep into her little brow as Wendy tilted Lily's little body backwards onto her shoulder.  Wendy is so capable and skilled as an instructor, but I wanted to jump into that pool and comfort my baby, to promise her she would be safe.  I actually had tears in my eyes, and I think Didier did too, because she was so vulnerable and so unsure.  She said, "No, no, I don't want to do it," and then Wendy would reassure her and ask her to try again with her...and she did!  Each time she said no, Wendy would coax her back in a loving, soothing way and Lily would give a little more.  I was so proud of her for trying and so proud of her for believing enough in her own voice to say how she felt!

As a mother of daughters, as a woman who at times was not able to scream or yell or say what I meant for myself, I am overjoyed at her sense of self.  I don't know that I dare call it confidence, as she is oftentimes shy and extraordinarily, eerily well-behaved and well-manner in a Stepford child kind of way with other authority figures (read, not me) but her tiny solar plexus was glowing.  That is better than confidence and deeper than that 8 foot pool.  That is soul deep...and that's all one can want for her girl baby.


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