High Jinx

When the kids finished their swim lesson last night Miss Angie said they could jump off the diving board, as usual. As NOT usual she gave them the choice between the "low" board (the one they usually jump off) and the "high" board, which they never jump off of because it is about 4 times higher than the "low" board (which is pretty darn high to begin with; if they hung from it their toes wouldn't touch the water below). Clearly she had been smoking crack, because no SANE person would encourage mere babies to jump from a height of 1,000 feet to their most certain deaths, water or no. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME MISS ANGIE? ARE YOU???? Not that I was worried, mind you. My children are sensible people who understand the limitations of their fragile bodies, not to mention the frailty of their mother's mental health.............yeah.

Jack was the first up the ladder. No hesitation, just up, out to the end and.....SPLASH! His goggles came off with the power of the impact, but it didn't even faze him. Did I mention they are the youngest kids in their class?


Ava was next. I made her promise that she wouldn't try to dive in (as she has been diving off the "low" board lately). "O-kay mooooooommmmm! O-KAY!"


And then Cate. Cate, who for most of last summer refused to go anywhere near the low board, and had to bribed with promises of sugar-coated goodness to get her to give it a try. She climbed up the ladder, walked out to the end of the board and jumped off. When her head popped out of the water she screamed "That was AWESOME!!"


I couldn't be prouder, despite the residual anxiety that kept me up until 1am this morning. Now let us all light a collective candle and pray that they don't develop a predilection for bungee jumping.