Swim Success!

Julia's swim team won their meet last night, only the second victory they have had this entire season.  The long-running tradition on this team is that after a win, the kids all push the coaches into the pool.  We had to leave early on the first meet that the team won, and last night thunder was heard the moment the final racer reached the finish wall, so Julia had missed out on both opportunities to push her coach into the water.

It turns out that the kids got a chance to do a make-up throwing of coaches into the pool at practice this morning.  The coach for the 9-10 year-colds was pushed in first, then the coach for 11-15 year-olds.  The head coach was going in anyway to work with some swimmers, so she had her bathing suit on.  The 8-and-unders coach, who works with Julia's group, was last to be thrown into the water. 

Here's how Julia participated in the whole event:

1.) By being the only kid in the pool, waiting patiently in her practice lane, while a gaggle of kids, 8-and-unders AND older swimmers, swarmed around the coach, dragging him onto the pool deck.
2.) Upon my shouting, "Julia, are you gonna throw him in the pool with them?", by getting out of the water and up onto the dock.
3.) By taking a few tentative, tip-toe steps towards the throng of kids holding onto the coach.
4.) By retreating a few steps away from the throng of kids.
5.) By taking a few tentative, tip-toe steps towards the throng of kids holding onto the coach.
6.) By retreating a few steps back again.
7.) By taking a step towards, then away, looking around as if not sure what to do.
8.) By watching the kids push the coach into the pool and turning back to grin at me.

My sweet little obeyer of authority.  Even though the coaches KNOW they're going into the water, and probably fake their resistance to make it more fun for the kids, Julia just couldn't bring herself to put so much as a fingertip on the coach's body so long as he didn't give the all-clear, 100% okay on it.

I can only imagine that if Madeleine joins this team in future summers, she will be among the first to start dragging her coaches onto the deck.  After all, she has absolutely no filter around authority figures of any kind.  Julia reported to me that at camp yesterday, Madeleine not only gleefully told her counsellor "I touched your BUM!" during tag, but said something even worse.  During Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey, Madeleine apparently exclaimed, after one kid took a turn, "You put the tail in the donkey's VAGINA!"

OMG,OMG,OMG,NO! 

We will re-discuss appropriate things to say in public before kindergarten starts, that's for certain.