I knew she would have to decide on her own. From that first lesson when I pushed her too far, she didn’t want to participate. Every Monday night for three weeks, we went, we sat, and I spent the hour swallowing the annoyance that I’d spent good money for her to watch. But, I waited. And, she watched.
Then, yesterday, she turned to me. “Can I get my bathing suit on too?” she asked.
I smiled, and we barefooted our way to the locker room where she slid into her striped suit, the pink petals of a flower holding together the top and bottom, while the squishy roundness of her 31/2-year-old tummy peeked out each side.
Tentatively, she smiled and we made our way to the pool. She sat on the edge, her feet dangling in the water.
Like the ripples mad by her little legs, I’m quite certain this lesson of patience with my darling girl, will send circles of change that I hope I will still be able to recognize far into the future.