A Little Fish

Today's gift is a little fish.

As I have mentioned once (or twice) my daughter loves to swim.  She is so happy when she is in the water.  My middle daughter summed it up best tonight...she said " mommy, she is free when she is in the pool ".

She is free.

Free to swim.  Free to move about where she wants to in the pool.  Free to be herself.

I love watching her in the pool.  She loves not having anyone be "on her" like when she is on land.  I'm not saying we are not watching her...we are...we are just giving her her space.  The space she deserves.
If you think about it my daughter has someone "on her" throughout her day.  Because of this she also doesn't have much (if any) privacy.  So her pool time is "her" time to herself.  Her time to think.  Her time to be herself.  Her time to be free....for a little while.

The pool is probably the only place she can roam and do what she wants.  She loves to explore every inch of the pool.  Today if she wasn't kicking a toy animal around at the bottom of the pool, she was feeling the current coming out of the jet or touching the water coming out of the waterfall.  Or she was just enjoying swimming and floating from one end to another.  On.  Her.  Own.

The one time we are on her in the pool is when we take her aqua jogger off and we let her swim.  She loves to be free without her aqua jogger.  But without it, we have to be on her.

When she was swimming with my husband today, she was kicking her feet on her own will and pushing her hands through the water.  This is huge, as her hands are usually always wringing!  The whole time she had a smile on her face...a smile that could have lit up the world!  She was so happy!!!
This. Makes. Me. Happy.

It is days like these which make me realize how much not only does she deserve days like today to be free, I need to see her enjoy days like these to make me realize these "free" days are important for her. Just like you and I need time to ourselves, she does too.  Just like her siblings roam the pool and do what they want...she wants to too.  She wants to be "free" and I pray one day very soon she will be 100% "free".   But until that day, her being a little fish is the only way to let her be "free" for a little while.

Here is a quote for today....

My heart sleeps by the sea- Author Unknown