Day 6/7/8

Days 6 and 8 were a total flop for me. :( There was just no way to get M to play by herself long enough for Day 6: Crack a Door and Photograph What They're Doing (I tried to set up my tripod and photograph her directly after waking up from a nap but I was caught making too much noise, silly Mom!), and Day 8: Silhouette I just plain gave up on.
Day 7's photograph for Playing in the Bathtub pretty much expresses how I felt:

... but M was quite enjoying herself.
Yesterday while scrolling through Pinterest I saw a pin entitled something along the lines of "10 tips to make your kid a swimmer". It was interesting to me first because I am a swimmer, second because I was a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons for 8 years.
I clicked, and lo, it was also a "mommy blog" and the writer's husband, who also was a lifeguard and taught lessons, had guest written his advice for parents.
I was a lifeguard long before M was around, when this chic would've told you, "No, I don't want kids. Ever," without hesitation. That's the truth, I didn't. (M changed my life, but that's another blog post.) My distaste for kids was well known but I was considered a fabulous actress, because I could get any kid to swim.
Pre-mommyhood, I also had some pretty set opinions on why kids had issues in water, and I am pleased to say that now I am a mom, those opinions were right. Ninety percent of the time, in the kids I've taught, their fear of the water was caused by their parents.
I remember starting many parent-tot classes (parents in the water with their kids, usually age 3 months to 3 years) with this speech: "Welcome to parent-tot. You will be expected to GET WET in this class, so please be prepared. Your whole body, by the time we are done with each class, should be wet." That was just the beginning; my speech covered all the basics and generally a "you don't have to dunk them, but I encourage it" bit.
Typically, the older the child, the worst the fear, and I loved getting babies because (even though parents hated it—maybe I enjoyed making them squirm?) if I had them in my class at 6 months, I knew I could start them in the water right. Putting a child under occurred the first day, not to just get it out of the way but to get the parents familiar with the fact that their child would not drown after a few seconds in the water.
That was always the first mistake I noticed—freaking out if a child fell in inches-deep water face first. A parent's reaction is SO IMPORTANT. Yes, as I know as a mom, it is scary to see your child's face in water. But in the five seconds or so that it takes an adult to grab that child, he/she will not drown! In fact, they'll usually splutter a bit and if they don't look at their parents, they'll keep playing.
The desire to prevent drowning is very strong—I understand that better now—but babies don't drown in five seconds. This is what supervised swimming means—you sit with your child close enough to grab them if they go down but you let them explore!
So my number one piece of advice after my first number one piece of advice (GET IN THE WATER WITH YOUR KIDS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD) for parents: DO NOT LET THEM SEE YOU PANIC. If they fall face first, make your face say "Wow! Wasn't that fun?" while telling them "Blow bubbles next time!"

You, too, can have a baby that loves water!! :) But I make no promises about hats.

Perhaps tomorrow or sometime this week I'll write about what to look for in a good swimming instructor—because there are many, many teenagers teaching swimming lessons who are no good at it. 

Listening to: Nothing, because my iMac is overloaded with huge programs (Adobe!) and is having fits if I run too many apps. I promised it I'll get more ram but I just got a brand new lens and it may be a while...