J went shopping with me yesterday and picked out a tee ball set, Yahtzee and M&Ms for B for Father's Day. B, being the wonderful man he is, was thrilled with all his goodies.
Today at the pool, J gave B an even more special gift.
J has always been a cautious, somewhat anxious child. He likes going to the pool, but doesn't like to get splashed and is hesitant to be in the pool without holding onto either B or myself. He's slowly getting more comfortable, but has only been in the pool without holding on to us when he could touch the bottom. Even with his inner tube and his life jacket, he was unwilling to let go.
Anyway, today we were playing in the pool--N was floating around with me and B had J in his inner tube. At one point, B and J decided to sneak up on me. I had my back to J. As they got close, B gave J a big push and he floated alone over to me. Instead of freaking out, J thought this was really fun. He proceeded to "sneak up" on me over and over. Each time he went further and further on his own in his inner tube. He was doing a pretty good job of motoring around by kicking his feet underwater. I know this is no major achievement for the average three year-old, but for my little guy this was a huge deal.
B had an enormous smile on his face the whole time. Afterwards, he told me it was the best Father's Day gift he could ever receive. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man as my husband and as the father of my children. Happy Father's Day, honey!
1 comment:
What a great father's day memory!
When my kids were little, we had a swim vest with several removable flotation pads. As the child got more confident, we removed one pad at a time, each one decreasing the buoyancy slightly, until the child was swimming alone. It worked really well and was a completely trauma-free way of learning to swim. It also allowed our not-yet-swimmers to get around the pool independently without fear of slipping out of a ring or inadvertently dunking a face. Of course, they still need constant supervision, but it was a great device.
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