Pool Sharks pt. III

Technorati Tags: boys,swim,sports,trust,learning,patience

"Boys just wanna have fun..."

This week at the pool was one of those weeks when say a coach of a respective sport would look at his athlete( s ) and say  “what the hell?”     You look and see that all the fundamentals you’ve been working on with them seems to have gone out the window….   If you haven’t been following along; for the past few weeks I’ve been working with WiMi , getting them used to the water and working towards learning to swim.  With all the progress we had made in the previous weeks it seemed as if “we”  had taken a step back this week.    It seemed as if the boys had their own agenda or just didn’t want to swim….  even after sporting their new foam suits someone gifted them.    No they didn’t want to work on kicking, paddling , or anything.   

As a parent it’s easy to get frustrated with situations like this…  whether we’re dealing with teaching our kids to swim, read , and ride a bike.   You know that you’ve  tried your best to instill the fundamentals or basics of whatever it is you’re trying to teach them and there will be times that it seems like it was all for naught…   A more seasoned or experienced parent will tell you get ready for many of these days.   A veteran coach will tell you even his most gifted of players had days like this and only got better with a lot of patience, hard work and continued focus on the fundamentals… on everyone’s part.  That’s what I have to  remind myself as a parent.   I joked last week about the boys being ready for the London 2012 Olympics…(I hope folks knew that I was joking)  but seriously, while I want to see them learn to swim,  I don’t have a time-table.   I simply just want them to have fun in the process.  I realize there’s a lot to be gained from this experience as I mentioned in earlier posts, such as bonding, building trust,  and inspiring teamwork,  learning to swim is almost simply just the end reward. 

Battle of the "wet noodles"

So we took Friday off….  thought they may have needed that…  I think I may have needed that.   I don’t want them to feel pushed.   We will be back at it next week and work on those fundamentals and see where it takes us.  If there is one thing you can take from swimming and relate it to parenting its that those who excel or do well are those who possess stamina, endurance, and stay focused and determined and never lose sight of what’s important.   These things may not get me and WiMi to London in by next Summer….. but it will definitely help us get through the next 15 years. 
Thanks for reading,
FatherEd