We went out of town to have a short, relaxing break away from the house routines and the monotony of the neighborhood. I believe that it is healthy to inject such simple interruptions in our lives from time to time because it allows the family to release the tension that we have accumulated from weeks of working and caring for the family and, for my son, studying.
The place that we went to was a hot spring resort with outdoor and indoor pools and a private jacuzzi for those who just want to plunge in the mineral-rich water. My son loves being in the water so we spent most of the afternoon and early part of the evening in the pools and the jacuzzi. We had a great time together but, most importantly, we succeeded in teaching Milliard how to swim.
Seeing our son learn to swim is a milestone for us. The truth is, Milliard likes to play in the water BUT he doesn't like any activity that involves submerging his head underwater. He has fear of swimming.
To help him overcome his fear, I invited Milliard to play seahorse (a.k.a. mom) riding. I made him ride on my back while wading in the part of the pool that he was already familiar with. Then I asked if it's okay with him if I carried him farther toward the deeper part of the pool. I assured him that I will never let go of him no matter what. He agreed. We pretended to be cowboys chasing the sun.
The activity established in him that being able to swim allows people to explore more places in the pool, which means bigger area for play and more fun. It also reinforced his confidence because I never let him fall off in the water throughout the whole ride, just as I promised. So when I told him that daddy and I will teach him how to float on his back, he was scared but not as resistant as he would have been.
I asked him to rest his head on my hand and keep his body straight and relaxed. He followed, stiffly at first but as he felt more confident and secured, he started to loose up. Before long, he became comfortable to the idea of floating that he would be the one to ask us to help him float on the water. From there, my husband taught Milliard some breathing exercises to familiarize him with the feeling of being underwater and then simple diving techniques. Before the day was over, Milliard was already diving in the pool by himself, totally forgetting the fear of swimming that had until that afternoon.
Looking back, I think our effort succeeded because we always try to be consistent when it comes to Milliard. We don't show double standard when disciplining him; "no" means "no" and "yes" means "yes". We also keep our word and established early on that a promise should always be kept no matter what. That allowed him to trust our word and be confident in what we told him to do, even if it's something that he was strongly afraid of.
We wrapped up our little vacation shortly before lunch the next day, tired but happy, satisfied, and re-energized.
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