Y

After much deliberation, John and I decided to get a family membership at the Y. There are two within minutes of our house, and we figure it gives us something else to do with the kids on the evenings and weekends.

There is a brand-new facility down the road, and we tried them out first. And what's the first thing you do when you get a membership to the Y? Check out the pool, man! It's quite nice. It's split into a family pool and a fitness pool. The kids were very excited. Until we started to get in. Then Keith remembered just how much he hates pools.

Keith has been apprehensive around water for a couple of years now. He did OK while we were at Kalahari last year since most of the place is just a foot or so of water--nothing really over his head. But I think that last trip down that one slide--where he actually went under water for a brief second--was the last straw. Now he's deathly afraid of going under water--to the point where he doesn't even want John or me to hold him in the pool because he's afraid we'll slip our grip. He doesn't even believe us that he can touch in the shallow 3 ft end. As a result, he spent all of our time by the pool last Sunday sitting/standing along the side while the rest of us swam around and had a ball. If either one of us even came close to check on him/talk to him, he ran screaming. He got himself so worked up, his cheeks were flushed, and he was burning up like he had a fever.

Meanwhile, Mary, who had gotten over her fear of the water two years ago, is doggy-paddling around no problem. And Izzy--who in her short 2 summers of existence hasn't been exposed much to a pool--was kicking while floating on a noodle like an old pro. "I swimmin'!"

We went to a different Y Monday night. This one was older and just had the big pool that they roped off for family swimming and lessons. Keith stood on the sidelines again. This time we mostly kept our distance to prevent the tantrums--but I would go close every now and then and talk to him. Then I pulled out the big guns: Get in the pool--for just a minute-- and I'll give you a candy bar. That's right--I'm not adverse to a little bribery every now and then. After a while, he finally decided that chocolate had precedence over his fear of the water and let John carry him around in the pool--all the while giving John the death grip around the neck. That's OK--at least he got in! Maybe after a few more baby steps, he'll be more willing to get in without the bribery. If we get to that point, I may look into lessons for him. We'll see....

Chocolate rules!