The Skittle Stupor!

Jack has been doing a great job at swim lessons over the past month. He kicks like a champ, jumps in like a stud, and blows bubbles like a pro! His swim coach says that he is mastering all of the appropriate skills right on time. However despite all of his praise, there has been one glaring red mark on Jack's report card. He refuses, I mean refuses, to get on his back. Coach Brett has tried everything...bribery, trickery, good old fashioned pleading but Jack refuses to be swayed by any of it. Don't get me wrong, Jack is definitely not above bribery in most instances. His coach has been giving Jack a few skittles here and there as a reward for trying something new and for the most part Jack is happy to comply. Nine times out of ten, Jack pumped up and on an extreme sugar high comes bounding out of his lesson saying "I'm awesome" over and over again. Well...last week Coach Brett decided to up the skittle anty and offer Jack as many as he could to get him to float on his back. And guess what? It worked! We were all thrilled about this new accomplishment, but amidst the celebration we soon realized that all of these "rewards" seemed to throw the boy into a slight stupor. There was no jumping around, no exclamations of "I'm awesome", nothing...just a blank stare into the dark candy abyss.