I am convinced that Ian is going to grow up and become the head of a company or a politician. He is a born leader. He has a way of working the situation to his benefit and takes care of others along the way.
Ian has been taking swim lessons twice a week for the past month and a half. His swim teacher is one of the lifeguards at the pool we frequent. Tommy, the swim teacher/lifeguard, does not have the best conversational skills. Ian uses this weakness to his advantage and Tommy doesn't stand a chance during their 30 minutes together each lesson.
To start with, Ian talks non-stop during the lesson. Tommy can't get a word in. Ian tells Tommy what they are going to work on. "Let's start with a warm-up going once around the pool." or "How about I work on kicking now?" Tommy will try to tell Ian to swim to a certain point in the pool to him and Ian will reply with, "No, I am going to swim to there first (a destination much closer)." After Ian has accomplished that. Ian will then tell Tommy, "Ok, I'll swim to where you want me to go just once. And for doing that, I get an extra piece of candy."
Then they'll move on to the next activity and Ian will negotiate how that is going to play out. It is really something watching this in action. Ian speaks with such confidence that you can't help but believe he knows what he is doing. And taking on a 6 foot college student is quite spectacular.
Tommy's head must be spinning by the time the lesson is over. Ian pretty much runs the lesson and in the process scores 4 lollipops by the time they are through. Now here is the part I am really in awe of -- when the lesson is over each time and Ian goes to collect the candy, he turns around and hands out a piece to Sam, his friend James, and James' little sister Ashley. Plus, he still has one lollipop for himself. Got to give the kid credit. He is brilliant.
No comments:
Post a Comment