Audrey loved the changing rooms, happily splashing in puddles and being very proud of her lovely swimming costume, and very excited to see Aunty Katy who is one of her favourite people. The actual swimming pool, however, she was far less sure about.
She spent a while at first just staring at the very crowded children's pool as if every single person in it had gone stark raving mad. She frowned at the water in a "not in a month of Sundays will you get me into that thing" sort of way.
Aunty Katy picked her up, because she was very clingy at this point (probably more to do with the crowds than the water, really) and I got into the pool. It was shallow enough that Katy could pass her to me and I could easily hold her up out of the water, but it was still greeted with a chorus of "no no no no" and other protesting noises. I wandered about a bit, occasionally dipping her feet in the water to get her used to it, but she was still very unhappy about the situation and kept pointing at the pool side and saying "out!"
We put her up on the side and she pulled and pulled at me to try to get me to go back to the changing rooms, reaching desperately for Katy (who was still in the water) and pleading "out, out" with her, in a "save yourself!" sort of voice.
I was pretty sure at this point that the swimming idea was a complete disaster and was already planning my apology to Katy, when she had the brilliant idea of trying to get Audrey to splash in the water at the side of the pool like it was a puddle. In the children's pool, the water laps over the edges. When Audrey realised she could stamp and splash in this water, EVERYTHING CHANGED.
Splashing was AMAZING FUN. She was absolutely delighted, grinning and shrieking and splashing us all, and laughing when the bigger children splashed BIGGER. Gradually we got her to sit on the side of the pool and kick her legs into the water to make more splashing, and eventually the coldness won out and she happily went into the (heated - children's pools are great) water. She still clung, and she still wanted to go back to the side every few minutes and splash again, but she was having a great time.
She even managed to do some swim-style kicking on her back and her front in the water. Although she most loved to be held and then point in various directions and yell "go!" while we swam/waded her along, or to be spun about in the water.
I'm really glad we listen to Audrey and let her set her own pace with these things and that we never make her do something she doesn't want to do (with a very few health-and-safety exceptions) - and equally glad that we are inventive enough to come up with ways to make things fun so that she WANTS to do them. I love her cautious times as much as her adventurous times, both are skills to help her survive and thrive. I hope she grows up being able to acknowledge her feelings and instincts, and then make a judgement about how to work with them rather than ignore them.
And I hope she always has this much fun!
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