Swimming

We had brought Gracie for a swim several times. She was terrified of going up to her waist in water. So she would just play at the edge of the children swimming pool. Actually, she rather not go to the swimming pool at all. This gradually changed until two days ago, she started enjoying splashing about in the water. Even after she slipped and swallowed a gulp of water, she still enjoyed the outing. This acceptance took quite a while. On hindsight, it was important not to rush a child with things that she fear. What we did, was to combine her favourite activity with playing in the swimming pool. Her favourite past time is playing with sand. She is happiest with an outing to the beach. Some thing which we try to make a monthly affair. However, the sea side is not the best place to allay her fear of water. Gracie cried the first time at the sea side because of the loud noise of the waves. It took a while before she allowed us to carry her to the water edge.

One of my uncle's condominium has a sand pit near the swimming pool. The first time that Gracie went there, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. She started off playing with buckets of sand and then venture to splash about in the children swimming pool. We brought her to my uncle's place twice after that. Each time, Gracie grew bolder. Last weekend, we brought her to the nearby public swimming pool. That's when she finally overcame her fear of water. She is still cautious but now she doesn't mind going in the pool for a dip. Now she can't wait for the next trip to the swimming pool.