I cannot swim. One summer, my uncle took us to the local pool in Atlanta and asked one of the lifeguards if he could teach me to swim. Normally, I would have flailed around like a fish on a hook, but the man swimming toward me was a superhero. He was Christopher Reeve's doppelganger, and to my seven-year old self he WAS Superman.
So there I was, confident in his abilities and totally trusting him to teach me to swim.
We began with learning to float. He told me to stretch out, relax and put my head back in the water and promised not to let me drown. I sank like a rock.
There are no superhero's.
Please tell me that your daughter can swim. There are so many black kids in Philadelphia who die every year in one of the city's rivers for no reason other than no one taught them how to swim. I believe that just like kids are taught how to cross the street, they should also be taught how to save their lives if they should ever fall into a body of water anywhere.
ReplyDeleteYou can swim - you just don't know it yet.
ReplyDeleteFirst - Try putting your head under water (in the tub is fine) and humming (to prevent water from going up your nose) for as long as you can.
Do this for a while until you can do it for about thiry seconds.
Next - While humming, open your eyes and look around.
Next - Go to a kiddie pool and lay on your back and float.
Do this until you know that you are naturally buoyant
Next - Lay with your face in the water, hum, open your eyes and look around.
Let me know when you get this far then I'll tell you how to swim.
@Curious: Nope. She will take lessons this summer. I know how important this is!
ReplyDelete@UBJ: I can actually float, it's the whole moving thing that gets me. But, I'll take your advice. Don't leave me hanging.
Well I'm glad to know I don't stand alone - I can't swim either. I took lessons as a kid, but I was a lost cause. I couldn't master putting my head underwater without inhaling a gallon of water up my nose.
ReplyDeleteBlack Folks Can't Swim.......or is that a blog?!?
ReplyDelete