Why You Can't Take the Easy Class

Cameron,
Last summer you did swim lessons one day per week for 1 hour, and your class lasted the entire summer.  You learned to be comfortable in the water, you played with a lot of toys and floated on stuff.  But you didn't really learn to swim.  Since you were only three, we didn't expect you to be swimming like a fish.... But this summer we knew that you needed something a bit more intensive so that you would make more progress.  Going to the pool with your brother too means that I have to hold him the entire time and cannot really hold onto you also.  So we need you to be a bit more independent so that I won't worry about you constantly.

This year we realized that the place where you have been taking gymnastics class also offers swim lessons, so we signed you up for a two week session where you go every day for 30 minutes.  You have a great coach who is gentle but pushes you to try more, and he is very patient when you get nervous or distracted.  But after you came home from your first class, you told me that all of the kids are bigger than you (which is true, some of them are almost 6 already) and that you were the littlest.  You said that it was much harder and you asked why you can't take the easy swim lessons again.

And here is the real reason why Mommy and Daddy told you no.  You are going to be just like us when you get older, and of course we like to only do the things that naturally come easy to us.  I don't want to run a half marathon because it will be hard and force me to stretch WAY out of my comfort zone.  Daddy loves being a natural athlete and gets very frustrated when he isn't automatically superior at something.  But when you are still young and we can make you, you are going to try new things that are hard.  We want you to confront your fear and punch it in the face.  (Thanks Jon Acuff, for your fabulous book subtitle!)

You are a brave girl, Cameron.  We are so proud of you for all the progress we have seen in not only your swimming, but in trying new things.  I know a lot of changes happened at once, with you moving to the Pre-K class at school and starting the next level of gymnastics too.  But we hope you see how much fun it is to conquer new challenges.  I hope to see you do it for all of your life.

Love,
Mama