Tag Archives: swimming class

Swimming class update

Posted in Everyday Life, Parenting, Family and Relationships by

My daughter successfully attended her swimming classes two times in a row. And she did not cry. She pushed through. She has yet to be playful, but she is less nervous and is listening well.

Her sticker chart played a small role in this. You know those potty training techniques where you get a star for every successful attempt? The same concept applies here. She gets a sticker to put on her chart after every swimming class.

But there is a catch.

I need my own sticker chart, too. I also need to do something I do not really enjoy. That means swinging the kettlebell. Urgh, the motivation to do that on top of my 10K steps is daunting. But since I am setting an example to my daughter to persevere through the hardship in attaining a new skill, I did just that. So now we are on a 12-week programme of swimming and swinging kettlebells.

Another contributing factor to her wanting to keep going is that she is under a different coach this time. Still a male coach, but as my daughter describes it, he says things more slowly and clearly. The previous coach was nice but a bit too fast, so she finds it hard to follow. Either way, the coaches at this centre are better than the one she learned from previously. She described the coach at the previous swimming centre as ‘aggressive’.

I was there, and I could see why she deemed it ‘aggressive’. Back then, she was only 5 years old. She didn’t really understand the concept of ‘kiri’ and ‘kanan’. Since her coach back then was a Malay gentleman and the only exposure to teaching she got at 5 years old in kindergarten was from gentle, female teachers, it was easy to see why the sudden ‘loud’ art of teaching seemed off. I did not force her to return to the lessons at the time. I felt that she still had time to learn. The fees were non-refundable. So, my RM500 were burnt.

This time, at 8 years old, I did not give in to her not wanting to go swimming. As the fees were also non-refundable. Plus, she is growing up, and she will be coming of age anytime. I wish for her to learn how to swim before she gets her period and enters the phase of teenage years. It’s because once she gets there, I am sure that I will be dealing with a little monster version of myself. Just slightly extroverted.

I look forward to her progress in swimming soon.

All Things Are Difficult Before They Are Easy

Posted in Everyday Life by

After 6 months of swimming classes, my son is finally able to swim from one end of the pool to another without using a float. His journey, and us as parents was not easy. His struggle was to keep practising. Our role was to make sure that he is consistent in going to his classes and persistent in moments when he does not want to swim.

I still believe in some of the traditional ways of raising your children. Which includes not giving in too much into his choices. Cause his choices can be bad for his future. I don’t spank or hit my kid but I raise and harden my voice, a lot. I don’t yell. I just give out verbal threats. Things like,

“if you don’t change into your swimming gear now, I will STILL bring you to your swimming class in those Pokemon pajamas ..”

and I would just stand there, stare him down whilst he cry his eyeballs out. It was hard not to give in but I had to make my stand. He caved in and packed his suit and like most kids, you just need to give them the early motivation, within minutes they already enjoy the class and wants to attend the next one.

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But to be honest, the same cycle of ‘I don’t want to go‘ will start all over again.

I did try to explore the reasons of why he refuses to go to class. Some of his reasons include;

  • he doesn’t have any friends that he know during those sessions. I told him to make new friends. I also understand that he would feel a bit different there as there are very few Malays but I wanted him to know, mix and talk to other non-Malay Malaysians for exposure.
  • he was worried that he couldn’t catch up. I told him he does not need to get everything right and perfect in one go – all I wanted for him is to try and give his best.
  • it’s cold in the water. I told him that he needs to eat more then, so he would bulk up and stand the temperature of the water better. I make him drink at least 2 glasses of milk everyday, 3 glasses on a weekend. He is gaining weight and getting taller. Not so much of body fat. haha

I enrolled him in the unlimited class options for RM700 over 6 months. Prior to thatΒ  huge monetary commitment, I signed him up to the trial class to see if it would suit him. That was 4 classes at RM120. I have not been able to send him there on a daily basis but we make do with the flexibility in terms of timing the sessions on weekends.

I told him that he can stop the classes once he masters the strokes and has advanced to the deeper end of the pool. But his learning journey will not stop there. Once this skill station is done, we are sending him to a language class. It will be up to him then which language he would like to learn.