Today didn't start like any average day. I woke up late, and had to go into work. Sucks for a Sunday, right? Well, I have to do what needs to be done. So, after being there for a few hours, I came home to my wonderful family.
My husband, who'd preformed a wedding ceremony yesterday, was beat and ready for a nap. The kids are excited about going to Chuck E Cheese tonight so I had to think of something to do to keep them occupied until the time came to leave for a night out. So, I took Katelyn and Jackson out to our pool.
I began to sunbathe while the kids switched from swimming in the shallow end of the pool to going in the jacuzzi. Then, I watched, as my four year old inched around the step that goes to the halfway marker of the pool. We always tell him that he cannot go back the first of three waterfalls because he cannot touch, nor can he swim. So, when he began to venture out towards the middle of the pool, I sat up and paid more attention.
Then, just when I thought he couldn't get any braver, he got out of the pool and jumped in. I sat up and watched as he kicked and swam back to the step. He made a proud mother of me as I sat and watched him do this over and over again, at least a dozen times. Each time, he'd venture farther out on the ledge, jump, and swim his way back to the step.
Watching him gave me an idea. I left the lawn chair and jumped into the pool next to him. I encouraged him to go to the very far deep end of the pool. I tread water and encouraged him to jump off the edge and into my arms. We did this for about 5 minutes, each time I would swim back to a ledge located in the deep end of the pool.
Then, we tried something new. I swam out a little bit to where he'd have to swim to get to me. This went on for another 5 minutes and got to the point where I was standing at the half way marker for the pool and he was swimming the entire way. It was such a neat experience to start the day off with him only swimming a couple of feet to swimming at least ten feet. He even knew how to take a breath, put his head back down, and swim again.
I began this day thinking nothing special would happen. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find out my 4 year old could swim half the pool length with ease.
Talk about a good day.
