Last Thursday was a very sad day for me, it was my last mother and baby swimming lesson with Ethan. I actually thought our last lesson was this week as I got mixed up about when the Easter holidays started, so it did come as a bit of a shock.
I decided that it would be best to end my swimming with Ethan this term as my bump is only going to get bigger, and it would get more and more of a struggle for me to take Ethan. The problem I had is that I didn’t want Ethan to stop his swimming lessons as he enjoys the water so much, and even though it has taken him a while he has come so far with his swimming. It would be so sad to loose all that he had worked so hard to learn.
Now for a ‘neurotypical’ child the next step to take would be easy. Although a term early they would have let Ethan move up to the next swimming class level. This means no more swimming with mummy and joining a formal class swimming on his own. This would therefore mean Ethan would need to follow direction and be able to listen and understand the instructions given to him. This is not possible for Ethan to do, and because he has no fear he would jump right in the pool without thinking. This could cause a dangerous situation for all involved.
The other choice was to join the disabled swimming group. This would also mean that Ethan went into the pool on his own, but they have volunteers that offer one-to-one support for all of the swimmers. This group does sound fantastic but I just didn’t feel ready for Ethan to join yet, he is still my baby and it would feel weird handing him over to someone else. This is something I feel I will have to come to terms with, but just not yet!
As our swimming pool believes in inclusion they did offer us a fantastic alternative. Even though Ethan’s chronological age means he should move up to the next group, mentally he could easily stay in the mother and baby swimming class for a while. So they found him a place in the group that takes place on a Saturday. This means that Darren will be able to take him swimming this term, and if he is still in the group next term we will be able to take terms in having some precious one-to-one time with him.
It will be interesting to see how Ethan handles the change in his routine as we have had some meltdowns when we have all gone to the swimming pool together. I will of course be on hand to help Darren this term, and I think it will be nice for Darren to be able to share some swimming moments with Ethan. I may even get some Saturday morning time to myself!
dont worry once baby is with you you can start again, i went through the same feelings with sophie and she was fine of course daddy and sophie time swimming was a great help
aww so sorry your not able to take Ethan swimming, but I’m sure Darren will love sharing this moment and you can enjoy watching them. Hope your pregnancy is going well x
so glad you found a solution. I gave up swimming with J once D was born. J is the same with having no fear of water. thankfully he can now swim well enough to get from A to B even though he doesn’t have a ‘recognised stroke’ (because of his ASD he doesn’t have the coordination) and so he doesn’t qualify for his competent to swim test which is a shame. Enjoy your saturday mornings and keep remembering how special it will be for Ethan and Darren to do the lessons together. x