Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Swim Nazi

Author's Note: I do not pretend to understand the devastation the Nazi party wrought in the first half of the 20th century and my use of the word "Nazi" in this blog entry is in reference to the "Soup Nazi", a funny character on the comedy series Seinfeld. Also, no animals were injured during the writing of this blog.

Last Sunday my three year old (I know Rainey, you're almost four) daughter would not enter the pool without her swim vest and goggles. By the next day, she was diving, sans swim vest and goggles, five feet under water to retrieve a brightly colored stick and then swimming to the edge of the pool. By Friday, she was jumping in at one end of the pool and doing the breast stroke to the other end. All of this, thanks to the Swim Nazi.

Rainey spent one hour a day for five days being told that she WOULD do all of these things. She was not given a choice. The Swim Nazi was in charge and she WOULD do as he said. Face in the water, three breast strokes meant face in the water three breast strokes, and you would keep trying until you got it right.

There were no parents allowed for the first four days, but on Friday we were welcome to watch.

I watched as the Swim Nazi yelled at my precious princess, "Who is the teacher?"
"You are" she answered.
"Who is the student?" he continued.
"I am" she responded. And then she proceeded to do whatever he told her to do.

Last night our family went swimming at my brothers pool. Rainey jumped in, swam around, played with her cousins and had a great time showing off for everyone. I was thankful for the Swim Nazi. Stephanie and I are at peace now when Rainey is around the water. She can handle herself if she accidentally falls in.

I was also reminded that we all need people like that in our lives sometimes. People who care enough to do whatever it takes to help you improve. People who challenge you to grow. People with the foresight and wisdom to show you tough love. Maybe it's a teacher or a business associate or an accountability partner. Don't automatically balk at these people. Listen to them. They may just save your life.

Pregnancy Update: NO MORE SHOTS! Steph has been taking two injections a day for weeks now and was told yesterday that she could stop! She is very excited about that. Everything looks good at 16 weeks. Again, we appreciate your prayers.

1 Comments:

At 10:18 AM, Blogger Kelly Vaughn said...

How funny, just yesterday my teammate and I were just commenting on our own encounter with the Pool Nazi! (see blog for pics) This guy would have been a great character sidekick to the Soup Nazi. Without intending to be offensive, he was a African midget that looked like one of the Oompa Loompa's on Willy Wonka (seriously!) When you got to the entrance of the pool, with his unwelcoming snarl, he'd snap at you if you had shoes or sandals on "*%@ TAKE THEM OFF FIRST!*%@" Then he began to inspect everyone's suit; he told my teammate's wife (sporting a modern tank/short style swimsuit) that "*%@ NO SHORTS ALLOWED *%@" Geez! If the kids dared start having too much fun, the Pool Nazi would yell from across the pool "*%@ PIPE DOWN! *%@" I think Jerry could have gotten a full episode from this guy...can even imagine Kramer having it out with him face-to-face...uh, face-to-waist (midget slur, I know, forgive me). Glad you had a better experience in the end...left us with fear and trembling about returning there again.
-Randy

 

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