Duped by a Three Year Old

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to the YMCA for a swim in the pool. Piper wanted to swim with me, Dad, in the big pool while Mom and Quinn swam in the baby pool. Piper can’t actually swim, yet, but she is close. She is not afraid to jump in, hold onto floaties and kick by herself, put her head under water, etc. Piper’s favorite activity was to kick while holding onto two floaties that looked like dumbbells. She can go the length of an Olympic sized pool, but she did not like her Dad being too close because she wanted to do it by her self. Keep in mind there was no shallow end and she can’t swim without some type of assistance. Throughout the afternoon Piper kept trying new and more daring moves such as using only one dumbbell instead of two or using no dumbbells. This made her Dad nervous because remember, she can’t swim.

At one point Piper got out of the pool and had a great idea. She asked me to swim from one end of the pool to the other under water. She eagerly ran to sit in the bleachers to watch. I have to admit that I felt a bit of pride well up seeing how my daughter wanted me to perform a test of endurance. I knew I would be up for the challenge. I swam to one end, took a deep breath and dove in. I made it half way and then came up for air. When I looked to the bleachers to wave to Piper, who I assumed would be beaming with pride, she was not there. She was getting into the pool from where I just came. Her quick little moves and funny grin told me that I had just been duped.

By the time I made it to her I was no longer angry, but almost impressed that she could pull that off. I told her not to trick me again and also warned her about the dangers of swimming alone. I also quietly warned myself not to fall for such schemes in the future because I fear more is to come.