The Pool

Yesterday I spent the better part of four hours trying to talk CootieBoy into going to the pool with me. It began at 10 a.m. when the neighborhod pool opened, and continued until mid-afternoon. At that point I gave up. He just didn’t want to go to the pool.

I didn’t ask CootieGirl since I figured it wouldn’t work because of her toe injury along with her fear of the pool after last year’s drama. However, at around 4 p.m. I asked CootieBoy one last time. Instead I heard CootieGirl pipe up. “I’ll go.”

So before she could change her mind we put on our swimsuits, grabbed some towels and headed over to the pool, arriving around 4:45 p.m. It was adult-swim when we got there, which gave her time to process the fact that we were going in A POOL. She got a little nervous.

Fortunately, 4:45 p.m. was the perfect time to arrive yesterday because there was a mass exodus when we got there. As one woman passed me she said to her protesting child, “We’ve been here SEVEN HOURS – it’s time to go home.”

SEVEN HOURS?

When 5 p.m. rolled around the lifeguard once again manned her station and everyone hopped back in the pool. CootieGirl tenderly stepped into the water at the steps, but refused to go to the third step unless I had a firm grip on her. For the first twenty minutes she only wanted to be in my arms. However, soon a little girl showed up that was around CootieGirl’s age, and she promptly began walking around the shallow end of the pool (which was 3 feet deep). I pointed her out to CootieGirl, telling CG that since she was 3 1/2 feet tall, she too could stand on her feet in the shallow end of the pool. It took a LOT of convincing, but eventually I talked her into straightening out her legs and voila! She touched bottom and she was thrilled.

For the next hour or so we moved around the pool, alternating between her walking and me helping her “swim” to the ladder on the deep end (which is 5 feet deep). It’s a nice sized pool, so we were never bothered by other swimmers or splashing. She and I were in our own little world, although she did briefly play with the little girl who had walked around the shallow end of the pool.

The crowd continued to thin out, and CootieGirl was having a great time. But now was the true test of how much she enjoyed the pool.

“Jump in, CootieGirl, and let me catch you.”

“Nooooo!!!!”

“C’mon – I promise you won’t go under the water – I’ll catch you.”

“NOOOOOOO. YOU jump in.”

“Okay.” I hopped out of the pool and promptly went to the side and jumped in (it was hard on the knees since it was the 3 feet deep side). CootieGirl thought it looked like fun, so I managed to get her to the side of the pool. I took her hands in mine and we counted to three. She jumped, and I “caught” her (really, I just kept a grip on her hands and let her drop into the water but not go under).

“That was FUN!” she said, “Let’s do it again!”

She proceeded to jump into the pool another 10-12 times. My prediction? Full on swimming by the end of the summer.

Anyway, at some point it was time to go (we ended up being there about two hours). We weren’t the last ones at the pool, but pretty close – when we left there was only one guy there with his three kids and the two lifeguards. On the way home CootieGirl said she wanted to go back again, so tonight if I get home at a decent time I’ll take her over there again. Actually, what I’d love is for ALL of us to go because I know CootieBoy would have a good time too.