posted by Lilli on p52, parenting, project 52

3 comments

Always expect the unexpected. For us it means that we have to be willing to go with the flow of that particular day. For instance our oldest is fairly scared of swimming. We enrolled her in classes and she attended with her papi. She manage some progress but all-in-all she still wanted to hold us with a death grip be held when in the water. That is until she didn’t.

Last week we were invited to a friend’s pool party where we planned to have to juggle both girls in the pool. There were lots of kids there in her age range so after a bit of watching them play she decided that she just wanted to “walk” around in the pool holding the edge. All of a sudden she didn’t want to be held. She wouldn’t move away from the wall but she navigated the area well enough to play with the other kids. After a while she didn’t even want us by her. “You can watch from over there,” she told me.

Baby sister loved her float but even she wanted more mobility. Kicking desperately to try and join her big sister she started to fuss and wanted out after a while. Of course big sis wanted to play with the big kids not the baby and little sis wanted to play with her not us. Then we realized that Gaby had moved away from the wall. She was so engrossed in play that she actually ventured into chest high water (3 ft deep) and wasn’t freaking out.

That’s the story of our life.  We read the books and talk about techniques but when it comes down to it our girls steer our journey as much as we do.  We stopped trying to climb the brick walls that we sometimes found in our planned paths and instead found ways around them.  Just like water we meander through obstacles trying to find a way to enjoy instead of constantly fight with our children.  We make our own path and that works for us.  Project 52 has helped me realize that.

We stopped assuming that just because it worked yesterday or because they didn’t like it that it will apply to today.  Instead we observe and take lots of deep breaths to help us remember to stop swimming against the current if we don’t need to.  What works for you?  Do you need more order to manage your parenting journey? 

If you’re doing a Project 52 please leave a comment with your link below and share. It’s never too late to start! If you link me, I’ll link you in next week’s post.

Other Project 52 Posts:

styleberry Blog |Aubrey My Love |Mahina and Lucas|Finding Joy |Firecracker Mama |Wicked Kate

OTHERS:

and while Life in an Instant from Kids Stuff World is not exactly a Project 52, the concept is still the same- share an image for the week and link up… so I’m including it here. Hope you enjoy these blogs

Pin It

Tags: P52, parenting, Project 52, swimming, teaching