Stressing 6yo...

[sleepingbeauty1212]

My DH and I are taking neice and nephew Sept. 2002 to PO, We showed them the pool this weekend in some pictures. She is not a strong swimmer, and Keeps asking "how deep is the deep end" We think she is stressing about the pool. wE DON'T want this to ruin her trip by not wanting to swim or slide. I even go down the slide. We keep trying to reassure her she will be fine.

 

[worm761]

my suggestion is to not lie to her. let her know how deep the deep end is and that she doesnt have to go in that end if she doesnt want to. and please dont push her to go on the slide. when i was little i was scared to death of the slides that twist on the way down. my mother would force me to go on them and i would scream the whole way down. it was something i could have lived without. just let her go at her pace. if and when she feels safe to do those things then just make sure someone is beside her to help her in case she changes her mind in the middle. hope this helps!

 

[mattlm]

With our 6 year old twin's - one is fearless and the other stresses just like this. She was real concerned about the pool so we told her she could ask the lifeguard any questions she had before she went swimming. That seemed to passify her until the trip. The first time at the pool, she asked the lifeguard every question in the book and the lifeguard was very patient and explained everything. She was fine after that and loved the pool although she never got the courage to go the slide.

 

[mainey-mouse]

Our very confident fearless 7 year old decided to worry about "how hot" Florida would be. First words off the plane - but its not THAT hot! It was just regular hot. Have no idea what she was expecting - we tried to tell her it would feel like summer at home, blah blah blah. She just didn't believe us.

We know exactly why this happened too...a schoolmate came back from Florida in Feb. Our daughter told the class she was going in May. The teacher AND the classmate exclaimed together "OH IT WILL BE SOOOOO HOT IN MAY!". Well what can you do?

Your neice may have heard some stupid comment about the swimming pools, and she'll probably be fine the minute she gets to the pool. Don't add your stress to hers by stressing over her stress. Sounds like she's already doing a fine job herself. You might never know what she's heard and what image she has conjured up in her mind, so all the well intentionned calming words might never help. Afterall, if she's imagining a snarling sabertoothed tiger, and you're extolling the virtues of purring kitty cats - your words aren't going to have a great impact. She needs experience - which she won't get till she's actually at the pool.

 

[DisneyMom92]

If my child were stressing about swimming, I would give her lessons. They are relatively inexpensive through most parks and recs departments and 6 is the ideal age for swimming lessons. She would feel like she is in charge and in a year she would be pretty proficient at swimming before you travel. Then she wouldn't have to worry so much about the deep end or any other swimming situation.