For many people swimming is something easy. For me it is so difficult. When I was a child, there was a small pond near my house, but I never learnt to swim there. My brothers could swim very well, they could teach me but I was afraid of being in water, I mean totally in the water. That is why I can not swim.
I did not want my son to step in the same situation as his mother and I think a boy/man should be sportive, so I sent him to a swimming class last summer. I took him there almost everyday. But after 8 lessons, he could not dare to swim. He did not tell me why at that time and I was busy with something (I don't remember). The swimming lessons stopped. This summer I decide to learn to swim with him. And he was brave enough to tell me the reason. He said he was choked with water once and afraid of dying. What a boy.
On my vacation in Hochiminh city, we went to Dam Sen. I dared to put my head in the water for 10 seconds. I did not know why I could do it. Maybe I wanted to prove with my son that I could do it. No need to be afraid of water. Maybe my son could do why I could not. After the vacation and the entrance exams I went to the same club and registered for both of us. The first day was 13rd July. But overslept and my son had to go school. On 14th the pool closed for cleaning. On the 15th, son went to school. I think we could have managed to go to the pool but not ready. I still felt afraid. But if we did not go, I would waste money and we could not swim. This morning the first lesson must be learnt. So at 6.45, I woke my son up and went to the pool.
My son learnt better than me because he learnt before. I had to learn how to float. After some minutes, I could float. Whoa, so wonderful. So fantastic to be able to float in the water. I was not afraid any more. My son was also more active than last summer. He swam more. Even he encouraged me to practice. Other people said that I was lucky when my son did that to me. Mum and son both swam (no, floated) together. When I saw him swim, I had more braveness to practice. When he saw me in the pool with him, he would feel more confident and more comfortable. Nothing to worry when mum is there. There was a little girl learning to swim too. After 7 lessons, she could not float. Her mother was on the bank. The teacher said the girl was not brave enough. Swimming was her burden. I told her mum to learn with her. Children need encouragement and motivation to do hard work.
Anyhow, I felt satisfied with the first lesson, my big breakthrough. I defeated myself. I felt happy. I told my son if I had know it was so wonderful to be able to float I would have learnt with him last summer. But never too late to learn.
