To prepare for a new day of water "trauma" recovery, I trimmed her nails, first and foremost because...OUCH! A nervous little girl can really dig in those claws! I bought her those little arm floaties which she enjoyed playing with, but did not want to take the time to understand how they worked (this was the evening before), nor did the blow-up ring float with a seat offer her as much comfort as she would have liked. So the next day, I brought these things down with me and let her make up her mind on what she wanted to do. I didn't make her get in and try them out, she wasn't having it yesterday and I had no reason to believe that would change!
I asked if she wanted to swim. She didn't, but she did ask if she could watch from the pool chair. Luke played for a while (with his new goggles...which he Loooooves!) and we retreated to the "little pool" but it wasn't before long, Luke was asking to jump in the big pool again. This time, Natalie only watched from the chair for a little while. Then she moved to the top stair. Progress! And then to the second, and the third. I didn't make her come in, so she stopped trying to climb out if I came near.
Eventually I brought the yellow ring-float back and she jumped in (fairly reluctantly, but understanding from exploring it in the little pool that it would float) and practically did the happy dance seeing she wouldn't "go under the water" with it on. A while in that and she was kicking back and forth until she was finally getting out altogether and doing spin-jumps with the float on into the water! It wasn't much longer she asked to get out altogether and start jumping to me, and then asking me if she could put on Luke's goggles and swim under the water! She did and she loved it and proudly proclaimed she was "not afraid anymore!" Thank goodness my kids bounce back so fast, they are practically made of rubber. :)
Besides this big success, we had a fantastic beach trip this year! It felt like it went on forever...that doesn't happen often during vacation! The trip back was a little hot and we ran out of transmission fluid which gave us a scare, but everything was just fine.
We even got to take some time and visit my brother in law and his family, enjoy the Macaroni Grill, see all the new developments in Charlotte and drive by our first house. It was bitter-sweet visiting that place again. Happy memories of our first home, new restaurants every week, remembering Luke's birth and the great people I met working at the country club, but sad memories of being thrust into a terrible and pretty cruel "grown-up" culture in so many other places and so many nasty people. Can't say that I miss it. At all.
Well, now that I'm back from ultimate relaxation, it's time to get busy! Moving day is coming soon and we've got LOTS to do!
~Tanya
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