MY ds has always LOVED the water....had a few phases of hating the bathtub, but overall has always liked to get in swimming pools, the beach, puddles, a plastic tub of water to splash in the yard, whatever. Doesn't like his face wet, but this is normal IMO for a little kid.
Well a couple nights ago we were treated to a night at a motel with a pool. I had promised ds that he could get in, but our evening got mroe complicated than we anticipated, so it was close to 6 PM before we had a chance to take him. Since I didn't have a bathins suit anyway (I had planned to swim in shorts and an old shirt) I decided not to change, and to just take him down to put his feet in the water adn then get ready for bed. It was really not that hot anymore anyway and I knew he'd be cold if he got in all the way. we only planned to stay at the pool for 5 minutes or so, jsut so he wouldn't feel like he didn't get what he'd been promised.
anyway, their dad went on upstairs to straighten up the room and do whatever. Dd was in the sling on my chest and I was sitting right at the edge of the pool, in a chair, while ds sat at my feet dangling his legs in the water. All of this happened at the shallow end, where there where several shallow steps leading into the pool. There were other kids as well who were sitting/playing on the first step or two where the water was only a foot or so.
anyway, ds was standing on the step, jsut kinda looking around, and he lost his footing somehow and stumbled face-forward into the water. there were other kids there ranging from abpout 5 - 12 years old, and for a split second I thought one of them would notice and grab him, but they were busy splashing around and all I saw was him going under. When he slipped, he slipped into a part of the pool that was 3 ft deep, and he is 35 inches tall, so not big enough to keep his head above water.
anyway, please don't laugh at me, but my gut, instant reaction was to jump out of my chair and step into the water, down the steps, and pull ds up out of the water. apparently I looked pretty silly because I was holding dd up in the sling with the other hand, to keep her out of the water. I dont' know how I did it, but all that went through my head was "OMG one of my kids is going to drown." i was so shaken up that we left immediately and I spent the next couple hoiurs being irrationally mad at SO for not being there when it happened even though he hadn't actually done anything wrong and couldn't have predicted that would happen, I was just so shaken up by it.
My point in this whole long story is that because of both the actual falling in the pool, and my over-the-top reaction to it (which I woudn't normally respond taht way to things, but I have anxiety issues and hadn't been taking my medication) ds is now terrified of the pool/beach.
We went to the beach yesterday, having compltely forgotten about the pool indicent, and ds not only screamed bloody murder about being dragged into the water (which we promptly let him go back to the sand when we realized he wasn't just being silly), he didn't even want US in the water for fear that we would fall or drown or something.
I really can't afford swim lessons, which I know would be the obvious answer. Does anyone have any tips to help him overcome this fear before it spirals into something major? I was able to get him to ride piggyback while I jumped over the tiniest of waves at the edge of the beach, and also to write in the sand at the edge where the water would come "erase" them, but even that was short-lived and very sketchy.
I feel terrible about this....I dont' want our summer to be ruined. Beachgoing is a free activity and a staple of our social life since we're so broke
Well a couple nights ago we were treated to a night at a motel with a pool. I had promised ds that he could get in, but our evening got mroe complicated than we anticipated, so it was close to 6 PM before we had a chance to take him. Since I didn't have a bathins suit anyway (I had planned to swim in shorts and an old shirt) I decided not to change, and to just take him down to put his feet in the water adn then get ready for bed. It was really not that hot anymore anyway and I knew he'd be cold if he got in all the way. we only planned to stay at the pool for 5 minutes or so, jsut so he wouldn't feel like he didn't get what he'd been promised.
anyway, their dad went on upstairs to straighten up the room and do whatever. Dd was in the sling on my chest and I was sitting right at the edge of the pool, in a chair, while ds sat at my feet dangling his legs in the water. All of this happened at the shallow end, where there where several shallow steps leading into the pool. There were other kids as well who were sitting/playing on the first step or two where the water was only a foot or so.
anyway, ds was standing on the step, jsut kinda looking around, and he lost his footing somehow and stumbled face-forward into the water. there were other kids there ranging from abpout 5 - 12 years old, and for a split second I thought one of them would notice and grab him, but they were busy splashing around and all I saw was him going under. When he slipped, he slipped into a part of the pool that was 3 ft deep, and he is 35 inches tall, so not big enough to keep his head above water.
anyway, please don't laugh at me, but my gut, instant reaction was to jump out of my chair and step into the water, down the steps, and pull ds up out of the water. apparently I looked pretty silly because I was holding dd up in the sling with the other hand, to keep her out of the water. I dont' know how I did it, but all that went through my head was "OMG one of my kids is going to drown." i was so shaken up that we left immediately and I spent the next couple hoiurs being irrationally mad at SO for not being there when it happened even though he hadn't actually done anything wrong and couldn't have predicted that would happen, I was just so shaken up by it.
My point in this whole long story is that because of both the actual falling in the pool, and my over-the-top reaction to it (which I woudn't normally respond taht way to things, but I have anxiety issues and hadn't been taking my medication) ds is now terrified of the pool/beach.
We went to the beach yesterday, having compltely forgotten about the pool indicent, and ds not only screamed bloody murder about being dragged into the water (which we promptly let him go back to the sand when we realized he wasn't just being silly), he didn't even want US in the water for fear that we would fall or drown or something.
I really can't afford swim lessons, which I know would be the obvious answer. Does anyone have any tips to help him overcome this fear before it spirals into something major? I was able to get him to ride piggyback while I jumped over the tiniest of waves at the edge of the beach, and also to write in the sand at the edge where the water would come "erase" them, but even that was short-lived and very sketchy.
I feel terrible about this....I dont' want our summer to be ruined. Beachgoing is a free activity and a staple of our social life since we're so broke
