Never Say Can't!

It’s hard to coach your kid when he can legitimately look at you and say, “You can’t so why should I?” I can’t swim. I haven’t been in the ocean for more than a decade and rarely will step foot in a pool. It’s not irrational fear of sharks or that the chlorine will ruin my hair, I just never learned and don’t really want to now. OK, so I’m a little fearful of sharks but I digress.

So, all of my kids love the water. They could seriously stay in for 6 hours without a single break (only coming out for forced bathroom breaks by mean mommy because peeing in a pool is just nasty!). The twins can dog paddle with lots of safety gear on. Natalie has gone in the deep end this summer and Max, well Max can swim circles around me and probably everyone in my family. Paul has just started teaching him to dive, something I never learned how to do.

Paul starts by saying, “Hands above your head. Just think, hands and head in first, feet last.” The first couple of times, Max did it perfectly. The third time, he hesitated, belly flopped and spooked himself. So, several times yesterday he stood on the diving board with his hands in the air while I tried encouraging him from the safety of deck (surrounded by 4 Citronella candles, damn these mosquitos!). A few times he turned around and said, “I can’t mom.” Ever the optimist I said, “Yes you can! Don’t say can’t. Never say can’t!” He just looked at me with those eyes that said, “Get your butt out of your shady citronella fortress and show me!” What do you say to those eyes?