Taylor Swift brought me down off the ledge

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-Post by Foster Dad
I taught a kid to swim today.  Well, I taught a kid to float in a life jacket and helped her not freak out... again.  Before we stepped into the water, her eyes filled with fear.  "Will I drown? Don't let me go. Can I hold your neck. Don't let me go. I can't do it!"  Within 2 minutes I had her floating in the shallow end of the pool, life jacket firmly strapped up.  Then the breathing started, and it got faster and faster and... "I can't breathe!"  "Yes you can... breathe with me... in, out, in." It was like coaching a chick through labor, but it wasn't working.  From the side of the pool a friend chimes in, "What's your favorite song?"  Regretfully, I start it up, hoping she'll finish it off, "She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers..."  She continued through the end and was happily kicking and swimming around from then on.  Taylor Swift saved a life today.

I heard it on tv once, so I keep trying to drive this phrase home, "Don't say you can't. Say you can. I can do it!"  What makes a kid fear to try something?  What makes a kid afraid to fail and try again?  Is it embedded or is it programmed?  A 4 year old has a very limited vocabulary.  Today I had to explain what a "mile" is.  Unfortunately I used the word "distance", then had to explain that too!  I didn't get very far.  But how does a 4 year old know what "drowning" means?  Why would she say, "I don't want to drown." Someone obviously poured a heavy dose of fear and attached it to that bad word, then planted it in that little brain.

It's crazy to think about the power of suggestion adults have in a little kid's mind.  My goal is to provide positive, overcoming goals instead of fear-inducing warnings.  I can do it!