Schafers in America - 6/18/2014 Pool part 2

Monday we went to the pool after work.  Today I took the day off since the sitter was closed.  The plan was if the kids were good we would go to the pool again.  They were good for the most part, so we went to the pool in Mulvane for the most part.

I was told last night by my mother-in-law that in my Monday story I never explained that we went to an ATM so we could get in.  So this time I was prepared and had cash to get in and for snacks.

Once we arrived and got the life jackets on Mason was off to go play with some of his friends.  Madison and I walked over to the stairs to climb in.  Again she was quite timid, and would not let go of my arms.  She holds on much like Rose did to the piece of wreckage at the end of Titanic (Here I go again ruining movies!  The ships goes down) and I am constantly telling her "I will never let go..."  It really is a sweet moment between father and daughter.

With Mason off playing with his friends I took it as my chance to work with Madison and help her get more comfortable in the water.  After all we drag her around the lake, if she falls off the skis she might need to know she can float.  Mad and I started with her on the side of the pool and I had her jump to me.  Thinking she jumps in her face gets splashed and it is a first step.  Well she will not jump in unless I am holding her hand, and it is more of a fall onto my body than a jump into the water.  A few minutes later I got her to stop clinging to my arm and just hold my hands.  She still had a death grip but I could at least move around and drag her around easier.  We worked on kicking her legs and on the rare occasions she would let go with one hand how to push the water with her hand.

The other night I was saying that I am not complaining about Madison holding on to me that it won't last forever so I needed to enjoy it.  Well I now have to hold on to those memories because they are a thing of the past.  A light went off in her head, she let go and never reached out again.  IN fact her exact words were  "DAD!  I AM DOING IT!  I AM SWIMMING!  DON'T HOLD ME ANYMORE, I CAN DO IT BY MYSELF!".  She had the biggest grin on her face, and Mason looked over and was probably more proud of her than I had ever seen him.  Every second we was on her own she became more confident, controlled and mobile.  Do not get me wrong I am not one of those dads that thinks my kids are the best thing since sliced bread... because I am pretty sure they invented sliced bread.  Both M&m were so comfortable that I was able to get out of the pool and go get my phone for some pics a vids.

(The part of the pool we are swimming in is just right under 4 foot, there was no touching the bottom of the pool for M&m, unless they moved closer to the shallow end.)

It was a very good day.  I could not have been more proud of Mason and Madison.  They eventually went to the part of the pool that has a current and pulls you along and went in circle after circle.  The funniest part is seeing them both try to get out of the current to go back to the normal part of the pool.  Madison could go about 1 out of every 3 times, Mason was more like 1 out of every 6.

Water is such a big part of the summers for Beth and her family that now knowing that both of the kids actually believe in themselves in the water with a life jacket on makes me breathe easier when they are out behind the boat.  I am not naive... I know the next step in Madison's mind is a flip off of the skis, and the daredevil attitude just had a little of  the regulator taken off.

I think the pool really wore them out, they fell asleep almost immediately.  That is one reason this post is coming out before 10:45 at night.

I will leave you with a video I took from the day: