Landlocked: My Son the Non-Swimmer

Every kid in the entire world loves to swim, but not my son.

I just don't get it.

He's had three different teachers, and they have wheedled him into putting his face in the water once or twice as he screams and howls and kicks, and I'm about ready to give up. I don't want him to drown, and I keep telling myself that he will get it eventually, but it's beginning to feel like it's never going to happen. His friends pass their swimming tests and spend their days at the pool, splashing away happily in their swimmies, but not my son. He treats the idea of swimming on his own as if he were going to face a firing squad. The "I don't WANT to go to swimming lessons" starts four days in advance. When I take him in the pool, he is fine as long as he is clinging to me for dear life, which isn't so convenient once the water gets to certain depth.

I picture myself with a 17-year-old who's life-jacketed and clinging to my neck as he goes in for a dip at the local Y.

I loved the pool as a kid. I swam like a fish. He has never had a bad experience in the water. I've asked him why he is so frightened, and he replies that he just doesn't want to swim on his own.

Must have been something I ate when I was pregnant.