Learning to Swim at the Sellwood Bath House

While Edward, Aaron, and I were camping east of the mountains, Meg woke up early on a Saturday and stood in line for a few hours to sign up all three boys for free swimming lessons at the historical Sellwood Bath House (I guess the whippersnappers call it Sellwood Pool these days). Ian's lessons were pretty simple: dance and play in the water with mom; Edward's class focused on teaching actual skills, but apparently he wasn't too interested in following along and learning these skills; Aaron enthusiastically embraced the opportunity and passed his week-long class with ease, so Meg signed him up for two more weeks of paid lessons at the next level.



While Aaron kept his enthusiasm alive, it wasn't enough to help him master the skills necessary to graduate to the next class (not that we would have signed him up for more lessons). You would not believe the look of despondency when Aaron tore his participation certificate from his instructor's still wet hands and learned his fate: another round of lessons being an otter. He had made visible progress since his first lesson--and he knew with great conviction that he had improved--so he was dumbfounded as to how he had failed (his perspective, not mine). He's not used to failing like this, so I hope it stirs a little fire inside him that drives him to achieve a little more next time.