death wish

Venna and especially Jonah spent a good part of June eyeing big kids dive off the diving board into the deep end at our pool. Kirksville doesn't allow fathers to tread water and catch jumping children. Silly.

We spent the night with my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Ted and Andrew and Morgan (my kids are still confused about how she fits into the family) and Booda in Colorado on our drive home from Utah. Guess what their pool allows?! Jonah jumped with no reservation or thought for his safety. Venna, on the other hand, took 2 hours to convince . But she did it, and then she loved it.

So back to Kirksville with the no catching rule...Venna's first attempt sans dad: she timidly walks to the end of the diving board, sort of falls of, and quickly swims to the ladder. After a few days of this she started holding one knee and she claimed she was doing a cannon ball. Gotta love her caution. By the end of the swimming season Venna was swimming like a pro from one end of the pool to the other with her friends.

I thought Jonah would just give up his diving escapades if Josh wasn't there to help. Wrong. He asked if he could jump. I let him jump with the help of a kind friend waiting at the side of the pool to come to the rescue if needed. Jonah did a great job and half dog paddled half swam to the side a few times. The kind friend returned to class after he was sure Jonah had the hang of it.
One time, out of nowhere, Jonah ran from one end of the board to the other and flung himself as far as he could. Scary.
He made lifeguards so very nervous. One jumped in to get him even though he was perfectly fine and treading water like a pro.
He excited random spectators. An older gentleman witnessed his first jump and cheered louder than I did.
He made me so very nervous. I stood at the edge of the pool, holding Tucker, coaching every move. I yelled the reminder, "Stick your head under and swim!" a hundred times.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that Venna and Jonah have never had swimming lessons? I feel bad about it, and I've checked into it a million times. Just never worked out. The thing about Kirsville is the pool is life in the summer. Its just too hot to play outside any other way. So we went every chance we got this summer. I am going to miss that pool when we move.

I'm proud of my two jumpers. I love how they both conquered the diving board in their own way.