The Spirit Indomitable

Wednesday at swim lessons was horrible. Rowan's got a new teacher, more's the pity. She's a bippy, used to be teaching Kestrel's class, and was completely useless there too. I can't tell if she's not too bright, or just very very distracted, but in either case, she's a crap swim teacher. And on Wednesday, my little guppy acted up. He was underwater for most of her instructions, did nothing he was told, and spent so much time trying to swim around behind her (underwater) that she gave up and had the lifeguard yell at him. A number of times. I was so mad, I was grinding my teeth. I kept an eye on Rowan, and he seemed utterly unphased, and kept doing his thing. Which was rather upsetting to Bippy n Co. We skipped class on Thursday. In my typical way, I stewed about it. Who the hell were these people? Why yell at a kid in swim class, fercryinoutloud, for swimming???? Oh, because they want him swimming on the surface, because kids who swim below are too hard to control (there's a really incredible metaphor there that I'll probably spin into something cool sometime). I ranted at my mother, at Jason. What were those swim bimbos thinking, screaming at a kid who was demonstrating (albeit, spontaneously) better swimming skills than any other kid in the damn pool??? And quietly, internally, I fretted. What if, in his first brush with the organized educational system of this world, he got his spirit crushed? Was I going to be able to keep him happy in the water anyway? Or had the damage been done? Last night, in the bath, Rowan asked for deep water. Then he asked for his mask. I threaded the strap, helped him put it on, and was rewarded by his grin and the following Declaration of Independence:

"I don't need swim lessons any more, Mama. Because I'm a diver!"

My little guppy then submerged himself full length in the tub, did a decent flutter kick, and stayed under for nearly 15 seconds. I've landed a new scuba teaching gig (more on that in another blog sometime soon), so there will be plenty of time for Rowan to play around in the water with Mama and her dive students. I think we're done with formal swim lessons. And my child? My child has the spirit indomitable.