I think that one of the wisest of sayings is, “when thrown by a horse, get right back on.” While the saying was coined with regards to actually riding a horse, I think it can be applied to almost anything. The point is that when you have an awful experience with something, the fear of trying again will get greater the longer it is allowed to fester, destroying your confidence to ever try again. While fear is an excellent survival mechanism passed down through years of human evolution, it is counterproductive when it prevents one from improving a skill that would allow for future enjoyment far outweighing the risk of trying again.
For my son, the most recent “horse” was the aquatic entertainment center in Burlington, IA known as Huck’s Harbor. I wrote previously in this blog about our dismal first attempt at Xavier “swimming” in my post titled “Terror in the Kiddie Pool!“. Just in case you don’t have time to peruse that post, the basic premise was that we tried the small toddler portion of the water park back in July. For Xavier, that experience was anything but fun. I was mildly concerned that my two year old son would be turned off to swimming forever by the trauma that befell him that day, especially with swimming having been such an enjoyable part of my own childhood. For Xavier that day, the 1-2 foot deep kiddie pool with its various slides shaped like frogs, seahorses, and similar creatures was simply too much, and it culminated with a terrifying float on Dad’s lap down the “lazy river” portion of the park. In Xavier’s defense, Huck’s Harbor needs to work on warming their water a bit for the experience to be truly refreshing.
Our return to Huck’s Harbor came about as we planned our annual holiday visit back to Burlington, IA to see the maternal side of the family. We were going to be in Burlington for four nights this year, so decided to spend our final night at the Pzazz Resort Hotel, part of the enormous Fun City entertainment complex, and directly attached to the indoor portion of Huck’s Harbor mainly devoted to toddlers. Because of the season, and the fact that anyone older than 6 or so will quickly tire of the indoor portion of Huck’s Harbor, we were able to score a rate of only $59 for the room and admission to Huck’s Harbor for our family of four plus Grandma Kay! To further buffer Xavier’s return to the abyss, we invited along his Aunt and Uncle who brought along cousin Sheltyn for his own debut visit to the pool (Sheltyn is almost exactly 3 months older than Xavier, thus his closest relative in age). Xavier and Sheltyn get along swimmingly…sorry, I couldn’t resist. So, we were all set with our second real attempt at getting Xavier into the pool, and our first with baby sister, Hayden who received a snappy little one-piece suit to wear during her own swim.
Surprisingly, Xavier showed mild excitement about the prospects of going back to Huck’s Harbor. Since our last visit, we have incorporated regular showers into his bath-time routine, so he has learned to tolerate and occasionally enjoy water running over his head. Hayden, for her part LOVES the water, and has had some shower time as well, much earlier than Xavier ever did. These factors led us to enter the pool area with a jolt of confidence that was notably absent since our summer visit. The confidence was reinforced as we entered the pool area, and Xavier quickly accepted my hand to walk him into the pool within minutes of strolling the deck to choose a table upon which to store our towels.
Disappointingly, in the dead of winter, Huck’s Harbor still hadn’t warmed their water any, so the shallow pool provided a chillier than expected welcome. Xavier toughed it out, and immediately climbed the four stairs leading to the frog slide. I held back my pride and amazement long enough for him to calmly slide down into my waiting arms, and as he hit the water, the memories of the fear filled summer visit seemed to return in a wave. Still determined to make this visit a success, I quickly carried him over to a pipe draining a steady stream of water onto anything venturing through its path. Once there, I allowed the water to hit me square in the face, splashing Xavier a bit in the process. Clowning it up as best as I could, my slapstick histrionics quickly changed the mood back to fun and excitement. Sensing a window, I set Xavier back down into the water, took his hand, and led him up the stairs of the elevated path leading to a series of small slides. Along the path, there are several areas where water is continually falling from above, and under each I was sure to repeat the clown routine, coaxing heartier laughter from my boy with each encore performance. Once to the middle, I decided to risk my own neck and convinced Xavier to ride on my lap down the widest of the small slides along the path. The ride was surprisingly slick, and we landed with a healthy splash!
Xavier and Dad splashdown!
I tried to recover as quickly as I could, ever conscious to keep his head above water, a challenging task to be sure, but critical, I believed, in keeping the fun alive. As I rose from the slightly embarrassing position in which the slide had left me, I was ecstatic to see on my son’s face not just a grin, but a beaming smile followed quickly by the loud request of “Let’s do it again!”
Success! After riding that yellow slide a few more times on Dad’s lap, my slightly bruised behind decided for us that it was time Xavier tried a ride solo. Being very careful not to push too hard at risk of tearing down all progress we had made, we chose the simplest of slides there, a series of four side-by-side blue slides no larger than the smaller of typical playground style slides that Xavier conquered before his first birthday.
Sitting on my lap for a ride down these blue slides was not an option as Dad’s lap (and this is no commentary on my physical fitness, mind you) was simply too wide to ride down…c’mon, they were made for toddlers for Pete’s sake! Xavier was able to overcome the bit of trepidation that was visibly rising up against his confidence, and bravely sit at the top of the slide while I quickly scampered down to the bottom to guide his entry into the water at the bottom. Once at the bottom, I gathered myself, arms outstretched, and asked him to push off. Amazingly, he took the plunge with almost no coaxing, and slid right into my arms so I could again prevent his noggin from splashing under the waves. No more than a second passed before he recovered and wanted to go again. We repeated this routine several more times before I ceased in accompanying him up to the top, and simply stood at the bottom watching him enjoy his unassisted slides into the shallow pool.
Going Solo!
I could barely contain my pride, and made no effort at all to contain my excitement. Not only had we overcome Xavier’s fear of swimming, but it was becoming apparent that we were going to have trouble getting him out of the pool. Deep down, I never really believed that Xavier wouldn’t ever swim, but I honestly didn’t expect such a quick and decisive victory as this. After many rides down the blue slides, several visits to the “drainpipe”, and a handful of solo rides down that first yellow slide, Xavier shocked me again as he wanted to get dumped on by the huge bucket atop the entire structure that dumped many gallons of water over the center of the structure every five minutes or so. This was no small splash either, it was a true soaker, and Xavier not only handled it, but loved it. It was so pleasing to see him enjoy himself so much.
No Fear!
How about the rookies, you ask? Cousin Sheltyn, while not quite as adventurous as Xavier, had plenty of fun wandering the pool, splashing with Xavier, and contemplating going down the slides…really contemplating. Perhaps next time, and for Sheltyn, a Burlington resident, there could be many next times in the near future. Hayden was terrific as well in her first visit to the pool. Still too young to do much beyond being dipped in the water, she spent nearly the entire time in the water with Mom taking in all the excitement, possibly forming memories that will bring her back with a greater desire to swim than Xavier first exhibited back in July.
For me, much as it did back in July, the visit brought back memories of swimming myself, and causes me to want to find ways to return to the pool on a regular basis. Swimming is such a wonderful way to get your exercise and have fun. It is a sport and activity that my family enjoyed immensely, and quite often. I spent much of my childhood living in an apartment complex that featured an outdoor pool which provided hours of fun every day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Our far too infrequent family vacations were almost always highlighted by at least a one night stay at a Best Western so we could enjoy the indoor pool. To this day one of my favorite scents is that of the artificially warm chlorinated pool air, and I retain memories of that special shampoo we used to remove the green tint from our chlorine saturated hair. I am overjoyed in our great night of fun at Huck’s Harbor, and look forward to future days spent poolside watching the kids form memories of their own.
Be Well!
