Swim, Anna, swim!

She approaches everything with apprehension. Perhaps it's one of those benefits of being the oldest, the trail-blazer. Man, it's a tough life. Sometimes I wonder why she, so talented in many ways, had to come first. Her self-consciousness makes me a raving lunatic. She contemplates every move she makes, every word she says, as if it will be open to criticism. And perhaps, as the first child in the family, with parents-in-training, experiencing everything for the first time, she has grown accustomed to being critiqued unnecessarily. Poor firstborn.
We signed her up for swim team this summer - by far the cheapest option for the number of hours she will spend in the pool - and use of the slides at the city pool on a weekly basis. Who can beat that?
Once I got her to step out of her towel and into the open air - in front of boys from her school class, no less - she took off! Her nerves still get to her before swim meets but it appears that all the reminders that life is about doing hard things are not falling on deaf ears. In fact, she dives right on in and gives it her best shot. I'm so proud of her - that she's learning to conquer her fears - slowly. Very slowly. So slowly it's painful. By the time she's eighteen and we shove her out the door, maybe she will have learned to ask for directions. Or answer a question. Maybe.