Let Me Swim!

We took our two year old daughter for an evening swim at the local pool. We have been many times. She loves to splash and sit on the wall pretending she's Humpty Dumpty; to explore and do laps in the lazy river; to throw the ball and check out the children's toys. But it had been a while. As soon as she saw the water through the window she was begging to go in. We knew it was going to be fun. 

And it was. But it was quite an exhausting experience. Have you ever done anything with a toddler discovering her autonomy? That incessant drive for independence is much stronger than reason. Stronger than fear. And stronger than listening skills.

She carefully waded deeper and deeper, insisting she needed no help. Slowly, the water rose up her tiny little neck and then up her cute little chin. It lapped at her sweet curls and rose until it covered her mouth. This did not deter her one bit. My little sea creature stretched out her neck and proudly tried to trudge on, coughing as the water tickled up her nose.

Not seeing her attempt as failure, she was quite displeased with being redirected. She had a set destination in mind. She was going to get herself to the archway, or bridge as she called it, on the other end of the pool. Of her own volition. 

She became distracted by activity from the next pool and inquired about what was over there. I showed her the swimmers doing laps and the divers jumping off the board and I told her she could not go into the other pool until she truly learned how to swim.

We briefly practiced relaxing on her back and trying to put her face under water. She insisted she already knew how to swim. And she was going to show me. She was going to swim to the "bridge". 

I took her in my arms and tried to help transport her with fun loop-de-loops and dips. She protested and was positive she could do it unaided. Finally, I told her to get ready as I was letting go. I counted--one, two, three--and let her slip from my hands. She quickly went under. I pulled her up. She took a gasp of air. And guess what? She still insisted I let go.

I grabbed a pool noodle and told her to hold on. She took a moment to find how to confidently hold herself up without falling back or nose diving forward. And then we had a compromise, at last. She was now responsible for keeping herself above water without mommy assisting. She was doing it herself. Our little fish was happy.

I told her to kick her feet (which she did in front of her instead of behind), and daddy and I safely guided the noodle around the pool. We treasured her laugh and enjoyed her imagination. We loved every moment with our determined, learning water baby. Maybe she'll love the water as much as her mom did.  

Now, she was certain that I could see she was capable of swimming. And so she figured she was permitted in the lap pool. She tried to exit the water and run over. This girl had her mind set!

We collectively settled for a short soak in the hot tub instead.