Elijah: The swimming saga ends

In the Netherlands , swimming is a big deal and kids start diploma swimming usually when they are 4. Of course , before this they do baby swimming and toddler swimming. Most kids do this. The basic diplomas are A, B, C. After that there are more diplomas you can go for , if you want to continue with swimming. These basic diplomas are required if you want to swim on your own without parental supervision (parents in the pool with you), or some sort of arm bands.  Especially when recreational swimming, vacation parks having tropical swimming pools, and birthday swimming parties, having a basic A and B is a must.

With Elijah , we went quite fast with this process and he is one of the best students in his class. Diploma A went by perfectly. And then the drama began for his Diploma B lessons. Something happened to make him afraid, unwilling to enter the pool.  I think he didn't make it through the hole for one of the lessons and this sabotaged his confidence. Now this "hole" is a huge thing for kids. Its a rubber sheet with a hole in the middle placed at the bottom of the pool. And kids need to jump, swim underwater , and go through the hole. With each diploma the distance from the jump to the hole increases. We made it somehow to gain the confidence and get Diploma B.

Diploma C lessons went well. After a lot of asking and prodding he finally said even though he does the swimming perfectly and well, he doesn't like it. How is that possible?

And then finally the saga ends , the Saturday before the Christmas holidays began , we , actually him got his final C diploma. He definitely didn't want to pursue anymore. But he was ecstatic and proud!!!!

Now it will be a few years , until I will return to that hot, sultry swimming pool and sit for lessons.