I love watching my kiddo at swim class. He is developing his skills and comfort level with floating on his back.

It’s interesting to observe that he has days where everything seems easy and fun for him and he makes a lot of progress (last Thursday), and days where he is having a hard time for whatever reason (today). Today he took an unexpected nap in the car on the way to the lesson, was overall droopy and tired after a busy day yesterday, and apprehensive about using the toilet. He still demonstrated the skills he’d solidified on Thursday, but didn’t work on them for as long. He was mentally ready to be done early today.

That was totally okay – I never thought to myself “oh, these setbacks means he will never learn to swim. What a waste of time and money.” Yet, we often think those things about ourselves when we have a day where we don’t practice our own new skills/habits to the extent we would like.

Just like I can observe him without judgment or apprehension, I can also learn to observe my own learning process in the same way. Skills will come in time, with consistent work, if they are meant to.