The Girl Child and I were watching the Olympics on Sunday, specifically some of the swimming. She was pretty interested in it and so, dreaming of seeing her on the podium one day, we had the following conversation:
Me: Those are the fastest people in the whole world swimming this event right now. Isn't that cool?Her: Yes.
Me: Would you like to swim like that one day at the Olympics?
Her: [Pause as she thinks about it] No, I just want to swim fast in the kiddy pool.
And so my dreams of vicarious Olympic glory slink away.
Posted by Random Penseur at August 17, 2004 02:43 PMOne step at a time, Random!
Posted by: Mick at August 17, 2004 03:39 PMGood point, Mick. Today, the kiddy pool! Tomorrow, the world!
Posted by: rp at August 17, 2004 04:20 PMThis post made me giggle, then I read all the way down to the bottom of the page, so now I have tears on my cheeks and one bit of advice I reeeally wanted to make sure you see, hence commenting here...
Get a puppy.
It is THEE only way to even begin to heal a heart broken by the loss of a good dog. This I know.
Get a puppy. I promise, it'll help... a LOT. Even if your parents don't want one, if you can get one yourselves, it'll make you and your daughter feel better and even your Mom and Dad when they get to see 'im. Puppy faces are the most healing thing God ever put on this Earth...
Posted by: Stevie at August 17, 2004 05:40 PMIMHO, so is puppy breath, but that just may be my own weirdness, there... *giggle*
Posted by: Stevie at August 17, 2004 05:42 PMMmmm...puppy breath.
Ahem...
I've been reading about last week as well. I sure hope this week is working out much better for you and the fam. At the very least, I hope you got more sleep. :)
Swimming fast in the kiddy pool has its own challenges...namely, random kiddies.
Posted by: Linda at August 17, 2004 09:29 PMStevie, thanks so much for the advice. We are deep in the midst of puppy negotiations and only need to first agree on a breed. My dad wants another Kuvasz and my mother a Golden.
Linda, thanks. Things are picking up because, if for no other reason, that is the nature of life. And, it is clear you have spent some time yourself recently in a kiddy pool.
Posted by: RP at August 18, 2004 09:02 AMThe art to navigating a kiddy pool is not limited to dodging kiddies, but also the byproducts that such kiddies produce.
Great post though, just started reading your blog today, I also like the next post about the English Language, kudos! :)
Posted by: Oorgo at August 18, 2004 06:37 PMMy only thought about this is that I wouldn't asked "Would you like to do that someday?" 'cause that puts the kid on the spot. I'd've said "..and you could do that some day, too, if you wanted to". It tells them that they can be anything they want without demanding that they tell you what they want yet.
I always hated when adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. If I said "Astronaut" then they said "Don't you want to be a doctor so you could help people?"
Eventually I just answered "I want to be a doctor so I can help people."
Maybe they were trying to tell me that I could be a doctor, but it always felt like they were telling me that what I wanted was wrong.