Swim lessons

Tuesday. I used to think it was just another day of the week, but lately it has become a very emotional day at our house because, of course, it's swim lesson day. Yes, I know. Swim lessons are supposed to be fun. Kids are supposed to love them. Levi never received that memo.

Levi is a very cautious child. It takes him a while to get used to a new idea or activity. This can be a good quality, but for his mom and dad, it can also be exhausting! He is also a child who wears his emotions on his sleeve. You never have to guess how he is feeling about something. There are a lot of things that he absolutely loves and then there are those things that he absolutely hates. Swim lessons fall into the latter category.

The first lesson was just as expected...lots of screaming and crying. But then he surprised us and actually started to enjoy it a bit. He didn't necessarily want to go but he didn't complain about it either. He got completely dressed and ready one week all by himself and was proud each week when he finished the lesson and received his coveted reward for "trying his best", a little bag of skittles.

And then there was yesterday. Levi realized it was swim lesson day around 2pm, about 3 hours before we needed to leave. And he used those 3 hours to let me know how he felt about it. I almost ran away around 4pm but then decided to stay. I really thought he would calm down, but he definitely did not. Good thing Michael came home a couple minutes early because I would not have been able to get him in the car. He screamed the entire way there, causing me to "lose it" a few times. I had responded appropriately to his tantrum for the first couple of hours and then I lost all rational thought.

I was not able to calm him down. He was crying as he got in the water and then whimpered as his teacher attempted to calm him down. I sat down along the edge of the room with all the other moms smiling as they watched the successes of their happy children. I realized that my heart was pounding and a few tears rolled down my cheeks. Why was he acting this way? Why couldn't I reason with him? Why couldn't I calm him down? It really was pathetic to watch him - he could not settle down.

I prayed for him as I sat there, that the Lord would comfort him and give me wisdom to know how to deal with this. I had my eyes closed most of the time, not because I was praying, but because I simply could not watch. But then I opened them and saw the most precious thing.

Levi's little friend Meredith climbed up onto the side of the pool and sat as close to Levi as she possibly could. She put her little 3-year-old arm around him and patted his shoulder. I couldn't hear what she was saying but she spoke right into his face. And then she kissed his cheek and shoulder. And then she just kept smiling at him. It was precious. It was more than precious. I really shed some tears and called Meredith's mom, Mindy, to share the sweetness.

Although it would be a great story if I now said that Levi immediately calmed down and loved the remainder of the lesson, it didn't happen that way. He did, however, calm down a bit and decided to just look miserable instead of angry. I think I was the one who had a more significant change of heart. I was reminded that I won't always be the one to comfort my children. I thanked the Lord for Meredith's friendship to Levi and asked Him to continue to bless my boys with sweet friends. While I can do my best and give them all I have, sometimes God will use others to bless, encourage and challenge them. So I will continue to pray that God will bring godly boys and girls into their lives to walk alongside them during all the "swim lessons" of their lives.

It's now Wednesday, which means I thankfully have 6 more days until we tackle this issue again. Who knows, maybe Levi will walk in smiling next week. Or maybe I will run away next Tuesday sometime around 4pm.