Like A Fish?

We finished fall swim lessons today.  Jay and I were pleased that the kids pushed their way through them.  I guess our definition of success is different from some people's.  No one passed off their level.  Not one of our kids went off the diving board, the supposed reward at the end of a month of lessons.  William and Tessa barely got their hair wet, as a matter of fact.   But we were happy, for several reasons:

 - No one cried.  Our kids don't love swimming.  We go a few times a year but no one gets that excited about it.  This bout of swim lessons was not met with any kind of enthusiasm except from Tessa, who for some reason insists that she loves swimming even though she refuses to do much more than blow bubbles in the water.  So to make it through 5 lessons with minimal complaining and no crying was an accomplishment in and of itself.

- Henry showed real improvement.  He didn't pass off Level 3, but only because he didn't jump or dive into the deep water.  He is actually pretty good at swimming across the pool and he enjoys playing in the water as long as he is able to touch the bottom.   He tried but didn't succeed at the diving part of his level.  Honestly, I don't care about that.  He'll probably retake Level 3 at some point but as long as he can swim around in some fashion, I'm pretty happy.

- William and Tessa went and tried.  That's about all we can ask of them at this point.  Tessa actually fancies herself quite the swimmer, although she doesn't do much more than get towed around the water by her teacher.  William is so tense; his main problem is his anxiety about swimming.  William is an anxious kid in general, though, so he did OK knowing him and his background and approach to swimming.  To give you an idea, as we were walking into the Rec Center this morning he told me he'd rather swim in the sewer.  Nice, huh?

After swim lessons they were all smiles.  William was invited to a birthday party so I dropped him off and took Henry and Tessa to purchase their celebratory Wii games; William wants a Wii game that is out in two weeks so we'll get it then.  Why Wii games?  We promised the kids that if they went to swim lessons with good attitudes and tried their best they would get Wii games as a reward.  Yes, we bribed our children with video games to go swimming.   Between the cost of the lessons and the cost of the games, this turned out to be an expensive exercise in.....what?  I'm not quite sure.  Perseverance, maybe? 

Either that or the power of a good incentive.