Little Dude (not) in the water

Yesterday was Little Dude's first swim lesson. He'd been swimming in the g'rents pool in Arizona, but that was a much smaller pool.

I think he got freaked out by the big pool. We got there early, which meant we watched the class before us for about 10 minutes. Even though one of his friends from the neighborhood is in that class, I think it gave him time to solidify his opinion that he wasn't going anywhere near the water.

A few weeks ago, as you might remember, he went running into the ocean. The Pacific Ocean. The biggest body of water on the planet. On the Northern California coast where attacks by great white sharks happen (and one just happened recently -- a kayaker got attacked about 10 miles away).

But an indoor pool freaked him.

I was sympathetic. I remember taking swim lessons at the Y in Green Bay. There were two pools, the swimming pool and the diving pool. The water in the diving pool was about 10 feet deep. That meant that I knew there were sharks in it and whenever I dove I had to get out of the water as quickly as humanly possible.

The shallower pool also had sharks, I was sure, but if you stayed near the walls you'd maybe be ok.

(I blame Steven Spielberg for all of this.)

We'll take Little Dude back next weekend and try again. Things were complicated by the lesson time. It was 1:30. He usually naps from about 11-1. If he's doing something fun, that can get pushed back. But he slept late so we didn't force a nap at 11, then it was too late to start a nap before we went, so we figured we'd try holding off. That was a mistake. He was scared and tired, which is a rough combo for a 2-year-old.

The only good news that, while trying to encourage him to get in the water, I fearlessly went in the pool. I guess I've gotten over the whole shark thing.

I'm not going to show him "Jaws" when he's six. I'm also not going to just throw him in the water -- ok, I would, but M-N says no. Hopefully, next week will go a little better.