It won’t work!! I’m DROWNING!!! I WANT MY MOMMA!!!!

LOL.... today was day one of swim lessons for the Suggs boys. They are being taught privately by a lady in Tyler. Nelson was EXCITED! He does well in the water. His only problem will be that he already knows "everything" so it's hard for him to do what you want him to if it's not what he thinks is right. LOL But he was going in head first with his eyes open (no goggles or floaties) and kicking right away! Tomorrow we are going to concentrate on kicking properly. :)
Henry is a whole different story. We got there, put on the arm floaties walked towards the pool.... we got within 2 feet of the pool and he turned to run! "I'm not doing it!!" LOL I knew it would be hard because he never gets in the water unless he's forced then he clinges to you like a leach. I grabbed him and handed him to the instructor who had to peel him off of me as he screamed. She then peeled him off of herself and shoved him a way into the pool. He screamed bloody murder...it was hard at first to let him scream even though I knew that was what would happen.
She got him to calm down enough for her to tell him to keep his arms still and move his legs like he was walking and he did it for a minute really well then said he was done and didn't want to do it anymore. When she told him he had to stay in the pool he started the screaming again. At this point, I had to laugh... he was screaming the "It won't work! I'm drowning, I want my Momma!!" It may sound mean for me to laugh but if you knew Henry very well you'd know how he isn't scared of ANYTHING.. including climbing a 30 foot ladder to get on the roof and then running across the roof... and he is always SO dramatic.
Henry escaped twice.... the third time she took his floaties off and showed him how to swim without them and he did it without screaming. He swam to the edge and got to rest and then put the floaties on .. that happened two more times. After that he didn't try to escape anymore but he did continue the screaming.
When it was over, she gave them five minutes to have free time. Nelson was doing flips and kicking and going back in forth and really showing out. He loves the water!! I would love for him to keep taking lessons and get on a swim team eventually.
When our five minutes was over, I told Henry to kick to the side (he hadn't quit screaming yet) and he was flailing around all dramatic and got to the edge. He was still saying the same things (drowning, momma, etc.). I told him to go to the ladder to get out and he wasn't having any of it. I finally yelled at him to "LiSTEN TO ME!" and he got quiet. "Henry, keep your arms still and kick to the side and do scream!" SO he did. Little turkey. He knows exactly what to do and is fully capable of it ... definitely just a power struggle with him. We are having that problem with many areas of his life right now... bed time, nap time, meal time, cleanup time, etc.
Nelson is THRILLED to go back. He can't wait. I can't wait.. I can't wait to see him swimming like a fish. In a couple more days she'll have him in the deep end the entire lesson. Henry of course does not want to go back. He told Mema & Gramps all about it and which consisted of "I swam with floaties and I drowneded with them off. I screamed a lot too." We asked if he was going to scream tomorrow.... "Yes!"