Nicole has an obsession with wanting to be a big girl. Yes, I know that it is typical for kids to want to be older, but it seems to be hitting her harder than it ever hit my boys. She wants her toe nails painted, wants to pick out her clothes and dress herself with"NO HELP MOMMY!", and the list goes on and on. Like all parents I'd love her to just enjoy being the age that she is-which is only 2 years and 4 months old. Thursday we got a glimpse of just how dangerous this desire to be big can be.
We had been swimming in the pool for about an hour and some friends were coming over to join us. Nicole has gotten fairly proficient at climbing up and down the ladder to get in and out of the pool on her own, and she can get anywhere she wants to in the pool now as long as she has her water wings on. I was standing on the deck right next to the ladder, and our friends had just arrived, so I was welcoming them in while standing there. I saw Nicole heading back down the ladder into the pool, registered where the boys were in the pool and then continued to chat with the arriving people. I glanced down to check on Nicole again and to my horror saw her face several inches below the water looking up at me with terror as she was kicking as hard as she could and trying to reach the ladder but couldn't get up or to the ladder. I screamed and jumped in the pool and pulled her up and out of the pool. She immediately coughed up a bunch of water and continued to cough for a few minutes. She was visibly shaken by the whole thing, but didn't wail, just clung to me in terror. We sat and just held each other for quite awhile. Finally when we had both calmed down slightly I realized that she wasn't wearing her water wings, I started to search for them thinking they must have fallen off, but I found them neatly tucked away with the pool items. I asked Nicole what happened and her response was "I wanted to swim like a big girl!"
Nicole is fine, I made David bring home his stethoscope from work to make sure that she didn't have any residual water in her lungs, etc. and checked on her multiple times that night once we had put her to bed. When I went to bed I was still shaking from the experience. I felt horrible, how could I not have noticed that her water wings were missing when she headed down that ladder, etc. But the lesson of keeping a close eye on her was definitely reinforced.
Now I'm left wondering what other terrors will come in the future years from her wanting to be a big girl too soon. . .
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