Cora watched Will go off the diving board again and again on Sunday,but refused to try it herself (even though she's not the least bit intimidated by deep water and was jumping off the side of the pool nearby while she watched him). She must have been thinking about it a lot over the last couple of days though because when I asked her this afternoon, she immediately said yes and took off running towards it! I had to rush to catch her, ask her to WALK around the pool, and let mama go first so I could be in the water nearby in case she needed me. Her first jump resulted in a lot of swallowed water, but she coughed it up and insisted she was fine and wanted to go again right away. We sat on the side for a minute while she took some deep breaths (I was trying to chill her out a little, as she can get a bit over excited), then I got back in the water and waited while she went again. Perfect jump (mouth closed!) the second time around and she swam straight toward me on the side of the pool after without so much as a pause. On the third jump, I went underwater so I could watch her and see how much depth she was getting (not much, since she's so light weight), and she loved that we could see each other underwater with our goggles on. After that, she agreed to sit still on the side of the pool while I went to grab my phone to take video for daddy.
Unfortunately, she swam to the back of the pool under the diving board after this jump (that's a big no-no), but other than that I thought she did great. Again she waited with James (who was sitting on the side of the pool - you can see him over there by the ladder in the video) while I put my phone away (so I could jump back in if needed), then I sent her back out to keep practicing. The lifeguard called me over at this point and told me "She doesn't need to be over here." When I asked for clarification, he said that she swam out the wrong way. I explained that she understood her mistake and would from now on (as she had been doing before) swim to the ladder. Then he told me she was a little small to be going off the diving board. I patiently explained that yes, she is small, as she just turned 4 a couple weeks ago, but she is capable and I am right here watching her closely. He then told me that he had been watching her all the way over in the shallow end and didn't think she was a very strong swimmer. Again, trying to be patient and polite I let him know that she is small, young, new to swimming, and thus not super coordinated looking or speedy yet, but that she is capable and determined and only struggles when she accidently gulps in water during jumps. She needs to practice, she WANTS to practice, and she will get faster as she gets more coordinated in the water. I think he just didn't want the responsibility of watching such a young kid over in the deep end, but jeez, give the girl a break! Don't anger mama bear because she will fight for her kids' rights to develop their skills! Grrr!
1 comment:
Go Cora! We need to all go together so she and Will can take turns. Maybe watching them will encourage James too. Wonder who that lifeguard was? Will spent nearly an hour (yes, an hour straight) jumping off the diving board this afternoon and while he was slow at times getting to the ladder (he kept stopping to watch the other kids playing along the sides), none of the lifeguards said a word. At least three rotated through during that time.
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