Not So Swimmingly

Today would've been Sam's last day of his Shrimp swimming class. He will not, however, be graduating up to the guppies (or whatever they call the next level) as previously hoped.

You see, during one of the class exercises, each baby is given a small, colorful ball to sort of chase after in the water. It is supposed to get them used to reaching in the water. A precursor to a swim stroke, I suppose.


Here is a photo of Sam chasing after a red ball during one of the classes. You can see the exercise is successful here. The ball is out in front of Sam in the water. But this is before Sam was introduced to a yellow ball in a subsequent class. And what ensued was a passion so strong that nobody could separate Sam from the yellow ball once he took hold of it. For the entire class, instead of participating in the activities, Sam just held onto the yellow ball and lovingly chewed on it. After refusing to give it up without a fight (read: screaming and REAL tears, y'all), I had hoped the swim teacher would take pity on him (me) and let him take the yellow ball home. No such luck.

But, as a seven month old, Sam has a short memory, right? So I introduced him to a yellow rubber duckie once we got home, and he seemed placated.

Only, I couldn't help but wonder what fresh hell we would face should Sam and the yellow ball be reunited in the next class.

And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we missed our last class of swim lessons. I couldn't break his heart again. That, and the fact that he has a pretty bad cold. But mostly the ball thing.

EDITED TO ADD: The same thing happened at the grocery store yesterday (Sunday) with a lemon. What to do? If anyone has a baby-safe yellow ball (I already told Bruce no to tennis balls right now), please do let me know.