Memoirs of a Martin: Guppin' It Up

This year I had great intentions of signing Emery up for swim lessons during the summer prior to our trip to Florida. Then all of a sudden I looked at the calendar and was shocked to learn it was late May. Apparently all of the other Katy parents were not so shocked because when I called to get something set up there weren't any spots available. Whomp whomp.

After watching a child that inherited my grace run around the deck of the pool at our new house I had a restored commitment to getting her in some swim lessons. A few calls and an awesome stroke of luck later we signed Emery up for a 2 week Guppy class starting on August 31st at Houston Swim Club.

If you're wondering how on earth we could manage to get Em to class every day straight for 2 weeks when I can barely manage to remember to clean out the lint trap in the dryer, you aren't alone. The answer is simple- Nonnie to the rescue. Between Ryan, my Mom and I we split up evenings to accompany our little Guppy.

So, how did it go? Welllllll - the first evening she screamed pretty much the whole 30 minutes. I'm talking gut-wrenching, heart-pounding screaming. She was that kid that you heard other parents remarking about. I was sitting behind the glass drenched in sweat. I think I will always remember that first time she was floating on her back, looking up at the ceiling and screaming so loudly that everyone in the place heard her. I don't believe I'll be alone in that memory.

However, as the week wore on she slowly got more and more comfortable. Her teacher, Mr. Hassan, won her over, which, as you know if you read this blog regularly, is no easy feat. He was truly so good with her. By Thursday or so of the first week she was no longer screaming. We actually heard some parents of other kids in her class remark how far she had come.

Hey, little boy next to me, why are you not as offended as I am by this whole thing? (I apologize for the graininess of all of these photos- it's tough to take pictures with an iPhone through glass. I trust that her emotions shine through.)

Note that everyone is watching her. Could be because she's cute. Could be because she's in hysterics. It's really anyone's guess.

Testing out the acoustics in the joint. They're stellar.

I don't think this was night one because she doesn't look completely disgusted.

I can't even bear to watch this misery.

My little pink guppy.

Week two was a bit more challenging. At the beginning of week 2, she was coming off of a Labor Day weekend chock full of swimming with her floaties on. Tuesday she got a little too comfortable on the ledge, forgot about her lack of floaties, exercised the clumsiness I donated to her DNA, and stepped off. The lifeguard was right there, grabbed her and put her back up on the ledge before she even had a chance to cry or know what happened. It was good that it was Nonnie evening because if I had been there to witness it there would have been tears.

The rest of the week her teacher was pushing the class a little harder by holding on to their backs less as they floated. Again, thanks to the genes I've instilled in her, Em is not a fan of things that are uncertain or new. So she was definitely not on board. There was a lot more screaming. Overall though, by the end of the week she WITHOUT question is more comfortable in the water and is well on her way to learning some crucial water safety skills. Above all we are proud of her for continuing to try even though we know she's been scared.

We absolutely adored Houston Swim Club, most especially her teacher, Mr. Hassan, and will definitely be doing more swim lessons there in the future. We are so, so, so, so proud of our little guppy and how far she's come!