Yeah...no

For our most avid fans waiting with bated breath to hear how Violet did at her swim lesson today, all I can say is that it maybe might have been marginally better than yesterday.  Kind of.

Violet woke up late this morning, and it was a mad rush to get out the door in time for the lesson.  We ended up arriving early (i.e., just in time to get a parking space in the lot), so she had a lot of time to ruminate about whether or not she really wanted to have her lesson.  She was doing great until the very second the instructors came out to convene their classes, and then she said to me, "I don't want to go swimming today."

Ha, guess what, little girl, too late.

This time, no more Mr. Nice Guy from the instructors.  There was no, "You can walk her over if you want."  One of the teachers just scooped her up in his arms and asked me, "Where's her towel?"

I duly handed it over to him, and he marched her and the rest of the class over to where she needed to be.

Again, from the observation area, at the beginning of the class I was noticing that anything they wanted the kids to do required a little, uh, extra motivation for Violet.  It could be that I was just attuned to it, but it seemed that hers was the name that I kept hearing from the instructors throughout the class.

"Let's do jumping jacks!  Violet!  Jumping jacks!"

"Hop up and down like a bunny!  Violet!  Hop hop hop!"

There are two instructors in Violet's class, both of them young men.  One of them is clearly the senior instructor, and Violet very obviously prefers him.  His name is Daniel.  The junior instructor is Steven (Violet couldn't remember and told me it was David yesterday).  At the point of the class where they were having all the children do front floats, Daniel was the one in charge of Violet.  She successfully completed the requisite 10 seconds, to much praise from Daniel.  "Wow, Violet!  That was amazing!" He gave her a high five and a rub on her back.  One of the subsequent exercises involved doing the same thing except on her back.  This time, Steven was going to be the one in charge of Violet. He called her, and she shook her head and started walking toward Daniel.  Embarrassing.  I don't know if it's because Violet already has a reputation for being difficult in the class or if Daniel didn't want to set a precedent, but he instructed her to go back to Steven.  He may be the first person I've met who is immune to Violet's charms.*

(* Seriously.  We were at a party last week, and Violet persuaded a grandma to take her for a walk on the beach.  She convinced a dad to give her a back massage.  The girl is a charmer.  I worry that I may be her easiest mark of all, though.  I'd hate to be one of those parents who is so enthralled with my child that I don't see faults that maybe other people find intolerable.)

But she actually did really well today.  When I asked how she did, the instructor was very enthusiastic that she put her face in the water for him.  I didn't want to tell him that she's been doing that for us for months.  Progress is progress, right?

And she says she wants to go back again tomorrow.

Yeah, I've heard that before.