"I consider Gay and Kathlyn to be my teachers." -John Bradshaw
Take Off the Floaties
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Take Off the Floaties
My daughter Jaden is 3 and ¾ years old, and she swims like a fish. She swims with the confidence of one who knows the water to be a happy playground. When she is in the water, I see her genius.
How do I recognize her genius in the water? Here’s how… 1. She is constantly smiling (in fact, this presented a problem at first because she kept swallowing water!) 2. She is utterly self-motivated to swim and 3. She knows her limits and also knows exactly where her next learning edge is – this has been brilliant to watch. Yesterday she taught herself to dive off the ladder, to do somersaults off the ladder, and to swim under our legs in 3 feet of water. We have never ‘taught’ nor suggested these moves for her.
In fact, our major role in all this has been twofold: get her to water, and take off the flotation. We’ve spent a lot of this summer at lakes and pools so she can swim, and even more importantly: We were willing to have her struggle, to sink, to cough and splutter.
I still breathe and calm myself when I watch her and she says: “NO, I don’t want help.” I stand within reach always, AND I give her time and space to sink before I rescue her.
If I’m not willing to have her fail (ie sink) then she won’t be able to learn to recover. What an amazing dance as a parent. Breathe, trust, assist, let go, breathe, repeat….
Is there a place in your life where you might want to take off your floaties?
With love, Helen
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"If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Helen Daniels
Genius Coach (phone coaching available)
613.728.8433 (Eastern Standard Time)
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http://www.helendaniels.com
http://www.easenflow.com
http://twitter.com/helendaniels
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