Big Girl Swimming

At the beginning of the summer, we "invested" in a life jacket for Reese. With an upcoming trip to the beach, and a slim chance we might be out on the lake, it made sense. Finding one that fit her, however, was more of a hassle than we expected. I quickly became educated on the different "levels" of life jackets available and realized that unless you weight 30lbs+ there are technically no options. (If I had to guess, Reese will be pushing 30lbs around the time she enters Kindergarten.) We settled for the smallest one we could find at Academy (pictured above--and, yes, it does say "for children 30-35lbs" inside). Reese picked it out and (to our surprise) requested the brightest yellow one available. Since then, she's used it at the beach and most of the times we enter the "big pool" in our neighborhood.

Most of our recent trips to the neighborhood pool have been spent simmering to death in the toddler pool. With only a foot and half of water and daily temps at or above 100, the "froggy pool" may as well be a hot tub as far as pregnant Mommy is concerned. With each trip I try to lure Reese into the big pool instead. I'm usually lucky to split our time 50/50 between the two, and while the big pool is cooler in temperature, it does mean that Reese is generally glued to me the entire time. Even with her life jacket on, the idea of loosening the death grip she keeps on Mommy is out of the question. A couple demonstrations about how "Look, honey, your life jacket helps you float by yourself!" have ended in tortured screams and looks of pure panic. Believe me, I wasn't asking the kid to swim the length of the pool, I was just showing her that being at arms length wouldn't be the death of her.

Friday afternoon brought a wonderful and unexpected turn of events. After our mandatory time in the toddler pool, Reese willingly donned her life jacket and we headed over to the big pool. Reese held my hands as we descended the steps, and then it happened: she let go and started swimming away from me. I let her go a few feet ahead before showering on the praise. To my delight (and relief) she was almost as excited as I was! For the next forty-five minutes, she doggie paddled, and kicked around the pool by her self. I was always within arms reach, but she never faltered or asked for help. In our two visits since (with a probable 3rd scheduled for this afternoon), we have spent the entirety of our visit in the big pool. When I ask Reese if she wants to go to the pool, she says, "Yeah! And swim in the big pool with my life jacket! By myself! Like a big girl!"

Ahh, sweet relief.....now, only seven or eight more years until I can be the parent reading a magazine in a pool chair while their kids swim independently and wear themselves out.