David & the Dunking She-Devil

I was so excited! It was more than I had hoped for. I had dragged David to his first swim lesson and countlessly reassured him that it would be FUN and that he would not get water in his eyes. He didn't want water on his body either. "We'll just start with you LOOKING at the water," I finally consented. But when angelic teacher Katie swam towards him donning a warm smile and cool red sunglasses, David reached right into her arms and allowed himself to be pulled into the water. I almost burst from shock and joy. For those that know our cautious little guy well, he is afraid of nearly everything but especially WATER. He still screams every time we wash his hair. This has happened since birth. We've tried every trick in the book a.k.a. world wide web but the panic prevails. Like I've said before, water in the eyes means certain death to David. So we sought the help of a professional, giving her sufficient background to prepare her strategy. She was amazing. At first he clung to her and spewed every reason he could think of as to why he shouldn't swim, such as, "I'm a Transformer and too heavy to swim. I turn into a road vehicle." But she worked her magic, referring often to his Transformer status, and within minutes had Davey kicking his legs and blowing bubbles in the water. She even got him to lay on her shoulder on his back, a definite first. He had an enormous smile on his face the entire time, especially when she pulled out the superhero water toys to play with as a reward. The next lesson went just as smoothly with small progressions. Katie knew just how to build him up and coax him into performing. There were no tantrums, no screaming. There was no going under the water either, which was fine with me. At least he was in the water and happy. He couldn't wait until his next lesson.
On Day Three, everything changed. Apparently, Katie was only the sub while the real teacher was on vacation. Who switches teachers on a fearful new student after the first week? Really?! The new teacher didn't share Katie's enthusiasm for teaching, nor Katie's expertise with fearful new swimmers. In an annoyed tone, she told David to get in the pool. When he didn't, she sighed and grabbed him, never greeting him or even using his name. When he asked if she knew about Transformers, she said, "No." She made no effort to connect with him. I mean, REALLY?! He was terrified. After a minute of leg kickers and carrying him across the pool, she said, "Time to go underwater." He said, "I don't want to." So she DUNKED him! Then she did it again! He was screaming and crying and clawing at his eyes. REALLY?!!! All my hopes of David learning to enjoy the water were dashed. He was traumatized. For the remainder of the lesson, he cried and screamed at her every suggestion, throwing tantrums of epic proportion that could only be the product of absolute terror and the survival instinct. She became stern. There were no games and no superhero toys. At the end of the lesson, she lifted his arms and plopped them on the side on the scorchingly hot ground next to the pool. He yelped. I dashed to his rescue, hoisting him out of the pool and into my arms. We then had an interesting conversation, where the teacher claimed she didn't know David was scared and thought he just didn't want to do what she asked. REALLY?!!!!! I gave her another chance. David didn't want to go saying, "But teacher doesn't listen to me." Ouch. I convinced him that she would this time. She didn't. The lesson was worse as each suggestion was met with screams of protest, then she would do it anyway. That afternoon, the swim school got a phone call from a disgruntled mom, who had previously made it quite clear that the intentions were for David to become COMFORTABLE in the water and enjoy himself, not to be traumatized beyond repair. At this rate, I knew he would never go near a pool again. I could have done that for free. Actually, I didn't have to say any of those things. The head swim lady had been in the pool teaching during David's lesson and had witnessed "it." She immediately suggested that we switch our lessons to a different day and time, so that Katie could continue to teach David. I enthusiastically agreed. So here we are. To our detriment, David is still terrified to go but relieved every time he sees teacher Katie. She is disappointed to see the renewed fear in him and has patiently resorted to sticking with the basics of the first lesson, as David refuses to try anything new. Hopefully, time and encouragement will undo the damage of the Dunking She-Devil.