Independence in swimming and other skills

Walberswick: Children Paddling

Although I had the pool ready a month ago, it was not until this week that the weather allowed us to use it. Now we are in every day, for hours at a time. Our neighbors’ children have an open invitation, so it’s always a pool party over here.

My first on-the-books job was as a pool lifeguard for the Town of Oyster Bay. While I have the confidence that I could save someone and administer CPR if necessary, it is the last thing I want to have to do. I think I am a little more wary and vigilant than the average adult, because I know that it only take two tablespoons of water in the lungs to drown a person.

My almost-three-year old refuses to use her baby float, the kind that has a seat to keep the child up in its flotation ring. She sees the other kids using the other kind, and insists on being like them. I didn’t quite know what to do when, as I stood with my arms ready to steady her as she entered using the pool ladder, she commanded, “Go away Mom!” while gesturing for me to swim “over there”.

I backed off but was ready to spring on her at the slightest mis-step. She did fine, and improved with practice. Within a few days, she was able to swim with confidence with the other children, using only her swimming ring.

A seven-year-old girl in my neighborhood came over with her sisters, wearing a swim vest. After the first hour, she decided she didn’t need it anymore. “You can’t swim!” declared her nine-year-old sister. “I can too!” she answered.

I stood by, a little nervous because she was still unsure about herself. Then she went off with my twelve-year-old and after another hour was swimming just like the other kids. When her mother came by, she was astounded. “She was afraid of the water!” she said, very pleasantly surprised.

I was surprised too, not having known the extent of this sudden change in her, because I really hadn’t done a thing. Sometimes that is the best thing for parents to do, is to stand by vigilantly while their children test the waters, whether in swimming or using the stairs or climbing a tree.

Sirach
Chapter 40

1 A great anxiety has God allotted, and a heavy yoke, to the sons of men; From the day one leaves his mother's womb to the day he returns to the mother of all the living,
2
His thoughts, the fear in his heart, and his troubled forebodings till the day he dies--
3
Whether he sits on a lofty throne or grovels in dust and ashes,
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Whether he bears a splendid crown or is wrapped in the coarsest of cloaks--
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Are of wrath and envy, trouble and dread, terror of death, fury and strife. Even when he lies on his bed to rest, his cares at night disturb his sleep.
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So short is his rest it seems like none, till in his dreams he struggles as he did by day, Terrified by what his mind's eye sees, like a fugitive being pursued;
7
As he reaches safety, he wakes up astonished that there was nothing to fear.

The Aquarium of Our Hearts

The fish tank in my kitchen had gotten so green that we could barely make out the few fish we had left in there. Finally they passed onto a better life, where I imagine they can swim in pure blue water for eternity. We took the tank outside, hosed it down, and left it in the sun for a few days. Separately, we rinsed off the gravel and left them in the sun as well. Yesterday we filled the tank with fresh water, tested the pH, and let it rise to room temperature. Today we got a new filter cartridge and ten new fish.

We always get tetras because they are the “cleanest” fish. These small but colorful species can survive for many months, even without regular water changes. We asked for one of each type, as well as a catfish. It took about an hour for the lady to catch all ten. They seemed a little nervous as we first put them into their new environment, sticking together and hugging the gravel. But after an hour they were eager to explore the apparent openness of their confine.

My water frustrations this summer extend beyond the fish tank. I spend more time maintaining my pool than actually swimming in it. And there has been so much rain on Long Island this season that we have had to cancel our beach-going plans several times because of beach closures due to “run-off contamination”.

I am reminded of the ever-renewing waters of Baptism. Just one time awash in the Christening waters is required and a clean heart is there free for the asking. No chlorination, no algaecide, no sun filtration is needed. From infancy on, I come to the same Water to quench my thirst, to be refreshed, and to be made clean. Because these waters run ever-present in my heart, I will enter the Heavenly House of my Maker purer than the most pristine earthly aquifer.

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
Ephesians 4:5