The Pool

While growing up I was never scared of the water....I loved to swim. I remember giong into Cleveland to the public pool where there was two diving boards and loving just jumping in the water. I don't know how old I was or really when I learned to swim but I was always in the water. Living in Texas I just guessed that everyone knew how to swim. It is too hot here in this great big state not to be near water in August. Well....I grew up(thank you Lord for letting me grow up) and got married and when I did that I gained 5 nieces and nephews. John and I would take them down to Conroe and swim in the lake. Jessie was 2 and I remember standing in that water over her head letting her learn to swim (back and forth...back and forth). Every year for 2 or three years everysummer we would throw her in and help her out till she was good at it. I was never scared of the water....ever. I remember thinking "I am standing right here, what could happen". Then I had kids of my own and in the lake I was too scared to turn loose of them. I would think "just let go" but they are so important to me I was too scared to let go. What if they dissapeard under the water and I could not find them. What if...what if ....what if. My daugter was two when we out on the lake and watched a guy drown right in front of us. It took them over 24 hours to locate the body of this man. Now I am very uneasy jumping off of things into the water....I still do it but it is in the back of my mind that something could go wrong...really really wrong. I have been terrified to teach my little girl to swim and she is cautious enough not to push the issue. Last year my mom really worked with the kiddo's when she was around and it helped me get over my fear a little. I kept thinking I should enroll them in swim classes this summer but I have a hard time committing to a date. We baught a 3 foot pool and again my mom got them all excited about swimming. My kids look like fish in this pool. Under the water half the time they are in it. Mikey can hold his breath longer than most kids 8 and under. They love the water. Mikey is not scared of anything and I have to really watch him all the time. Yesterday one of my friends posted on Facebook that she was meeting friends at this really nice pool not too far from here so I packed the kids up and joined them. The pool was nice and big. It had a kid section for non swimmers and then a big pool for older more experieced swimmers...with two diving boards. Toni was happy staying where she could touch. Mikey....not so much. I forgot his life vest (yep..I make him wear it when ever we are around deep water). So I had to just keep ahold of him. One problem, he kept saying "don't touch me mom!" I kept putting him back where he could touch and he would just swim out further. Finally I got it...he can swim just fine. He is so tiny swimming all over the water. We went to the 5 foot section well over his head and he kept staring at the diving board. "Mom, I want to jump!" So I let him jump off of the side into the 5 and 6 foot water. I was there to catch him every jump. Again...he kept saying "Mom, don't touch me". I moved over and watched him and sure enough he jumped off went under...came up like a drowned puppy and swam to shore. Toni saw this going on and she decided she wanted to jump off the wall too. She got up there the first time and froze. She would not jump. Mikey went around her three times and jumped. Finally Toni (not wanting to be out done) jumped off and I helped her up and out. She was sooooooo happy with herself. She started doing it over and over just like Mikey. I was in the water now for emotional support more for me then them. Toni said "I want to go to the diving board!" So I did what any mother would do and made her swim accross the pool first to make sure she could handle the swimming. She finished the pool swim and said...."can I go now". I took Mikey and Toni over and put Toni in line to jump. She walked out the first time looked down and panic swept over her. She turned around and slowly walked back off, came over to me and said lets go practice more. Back to the side of the pool. One of the other mom's there said it normally takes about three times till they jump the first time. Soooooo we went practice and back to the board. Same thing...panic. At this point I thought...how am I going to get her to jump. The third time she got up on the board and started to panic, this really friendly guy that is an instructor there said "can she swim?". I yelled to the guy "oh yeah". He went out there with her and kinda lowered/dropped her in. I thought to myself...wow she is going to be sooo mad that she was just pushed in. The guy did not even talk to her at all....except....one....two....three. Well she popped up out of the water with a smile on her face and swam to the shore. She was crazy happy and smile from ear to ear. Mikey was in tears. Mikey saw her panic and wanted nothing to do with that board. He was mad that she was even on it. I could not make Mikey ok with sister jumping off the board and I could not drag Toni away from it. Mikey and I had to go back to the wall and calm him down while Toni was just jumping over and over and over. Toni has no fear of the water now. I do wish I would have let Mikey jump off the board first and you know what they say "hindsight is 20/20" . Mikey is content to jump off the wall for now and Toni is an expert jumper. Too bad I did not bring my camera. Overall it was a wonderful day and I learned just how capable my kiddo's are.