On Sundays my eldest daughter takes swim lessons. We’ve been going to the same place all semester; however we are on our third teacher. I am amazed that she hasn’t freaked out over this, as the relationship between a swim teacher and student must be one of trust.
In fairness, the reason for so many teachers is circumstantial, as the first one injured himself on his personal time. The second one was a sub, and the third one is her current one.
Her first teacher was really great. He was kind, caring, and gave me excellent feedback on each of her lessons. My daughter isn’t afraid of the water, but she has a fear of falling. He understood this, and worked with her. She had a hard time letting go and trusting that should would be safe, but was starting to make strides.
Then the sub came in.
My daughter was not one to choose to put her whole head under water yet. She was starting to slowly put her face in, but this one basically dunked her under without consent. I didn’t know if I thought that was a good idea. At first, I was shocked. Then I thought , well maybe this will toughen her up, and she’ll realize it wasn’t so bad.
The whole time, the sub was throwing the kids around in a “sink or swim” type of lesson. I stood by the side waiting to see if this was a good method for my girl.
It wasn’t…. which I kind of thought it wouldn’t be.
She lost trust that she would be safe. I know the sub was truly trying to teach the way she knew how, but she never asked the parents if a tough love lesson would be effective.
Trust is such an important part of service. No one wants to gamble with their time and money. When I pay for swim lessons, I want to trust that the lessons will further my child’s swim education, and ultimately, keep her safe in the water.
When I pay for anything, I want to trust that I get what I paid for. I want to trust that if things go wrong ( human error happens), that we still get taken care of.
And we did.
The third instructor is actually the head of the swim department, and she’s amazing. The hiccup of the class she took where she ended up scared and afraid to go back, was quickly wiped away by the best of the best. She understands my daughter’s fear of falling, and has changed her dialogue from,” I’m falling” to “I’m floating”. She’s starting to trust at a faster rate, and yesterday I watched her do more on her own then I could have imagined in this short of time.
I TRUST the JCC to teach my daughter to swim.
Now, that is good service.