Little Fish

As a teenager and college student, I spent four summers in a row lifeguarding at a water park, supervising hordes of young kids and adults as they braved wave pools, water slides, and regular swimming pools. I loved seeing kids of all ages conquer their fears and embrace all of the crazy wet adventures to be had at the waterpark, but my favorite guests were always the few, gutsy little toddlers who managed to pass a daunting swim test in order to receive a coveted wristband that enabled them to go on any ride they wished, despite their height.

Watching two, three and four-year-olds bravely jump into the deep end of the pool and wriggle and kick their way across it was, for a lifelong swimmer, awesome to see, and I remember hoping I would one day have a brave little fish of my own.

While Joey is water-safe now in the deep end of the pool, and is even learning strokes like butterfly and breaststroke, it's our little Clara Jane who most reminds me of the kids I used to admire as a lifeguard. Still sporting a toddler tummy at 3, she has a fearlessness and devil-may-care nonchalance around bodies of water -- no matter their depth -- that is both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

At the beginning of the summer, we enrolled her in in the same 6-week learn-to-swim program that Joey completed last year (and he returned at a more advanced level this summer, too). She had a rocky start that had more to do with three year-old defiance than any true fear of the water, and she sat through most of her lessons on the pool deck, swinging her legs in the water and ignoring the coaches.

But in mid-June, on a trip to see Hop and Mop, she decided on her own time that she was a swimmer, and during a visit to their neighborhood pool, she suddenly seemed to have absorbed every technique she had learned in class so far. Here she is showing off her new fish skills that day (and Mommy wasn't even there to see it, after dealing with the poolside tantrums and tears for two weeks straight!).

From that point on, she was unstoppable, gathering confidence with every trip to the pool, every opportunity to put her head under water, every chance to swim, mermaid-like, around the shallow end of the pool.

But two weeks ago, her skillz went to a whole new level... after seeing Joey and his friends launch themselves off the diving board over and over again, she decided that she, too, had to master that challenge. After just one false start that involved getting off the diving board and "practicing" just beside it by jumping off the edge into nine feet of water, she got back on the ladder, went to the end, and jumped.

She hasn't stopped jumping since.

She's my very own brave little fish, and I'm loving every second of it!