Okanagan Vacation - The Kid is Finally Swimming!!!

I am thrilled my son who hates water and doesn't like to swim is finally swimming - without the aid of a life jacket. He's 9 and the fact that he is not a fish when it comes to water is a huge contention with me and my family because we are lake people. I lived in the lake growing up and my dad did before me and his mom before him so how could my child not like to swim?

I had put him swimming lessons but after the 4th time with no improvement at $35 a session I finally said enough is enough. I have tried to force him to swim and throwing him in to get him used to the water... I know it has the opposite effect but sometimes I just get so frustrated that I throw him in with his life jacket on. OK it's not a life jacket ... his personal flotation device which everyone calls a life jacket due to it's common use as a life jacket.

My first day visiting him at the cabin we took the boat across the lake to swim and I started to swim back to the cabin to see how far I'd get ... I'm extremely out of shape and the thought of exercise makes me tired. My son (in his pdf life jacket) started swimming with me after 2 hours we had made it over half way before a strong current in the water impeded our progress. I was extremely proud of him because he did so well in really deep black water without freaking out.

Today he was aloud to go into the lake without his life jacket as long as he didn't go out over his waist. The next thing I know he's swimming without any aid of a life jacket and not just for a few strokes but for a decent length of time. I was so thrilled, this was big for him and such a relief to me.

Now if I could just get him to put his head under the water we might have another fish in the family.