{"id":936,"date":"2005-11-14T14:13:19","date_gmt":"2005-11-14T21:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kattywilly.com\/blog\/?p=936"},"modified":"2005-11-14T14:13:19","modified_gmt":"2005-11-14T21:13:19","slug":"julie-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/?p=936","title":{"rendered":"Julie is"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julie is
\nworried<\/a> as am I. In Julie’s case it is swimming lessons. Swimming
\nlessons here on the west central coast of Florida aren’t an option they
\nare a requirement. We are literally surrounded by water and about every
\nthird house has a pool. We are surrounded by houses that have pools. <\/p>\n

When we first started swimming lessons we were instructed by the teacher
\nto try and stay out of sight of the girls. That would help prevent them
\nfrom wanting to keep coming back out of the pool to mommy and daddy. I
\nseem to remember sitting in an upper deck seating area at the local YMCA
\npool. It worked. The girls got over the separation very quickly and
\nwere able to focus on the instructor and not on mommy and daddy. As the
\nlessons went on they would realize where we were and look to us for
\nencouragement for their accomplishments and we would proudly cheer them on.<\/p>\n

We went on to take ballet lessons, and music lessons and of course
\nskating lessons. Now I am faced with driving lessons and more recently
\nhaving to let my oldest take her place out on the roads by herself.
\nWithout me riding along side there in plain sight waiting in case she
\nneeds her daddy. This too is a case where there comes a time where I
\nhave to be out of sight for her to allow her to focus on her task and to
\nbecome proficient at driving, just like she did with swimming and skating.<\/p>\n

Julie describes the fear of being a parent:<\/p>\n

“As the classes continue, large clock ticking on the wall, waves
\nsplash over the edge. I watch the water flow in and out and I realize
\nhow difficult it is for me to learn to swim as a mom. I struggle,
\nsinking in anxiety. If only I could float. If only I could be flexible
\nand fluid. If only I could be like liquid. Like love.<\/p>\n

Floating is not fighting. I remember learning how to swim, my teacher’s
\ngentle voice encouraging me to relax and look up as I paddled around the
\npool on my back, hands like fish fins at my sides. To survive in this
\nenvironment, I must become aquatic. I want to be one with the water,
\nallowing it to move me, not resisting its flow. With silent prayers and
\nvisible tears, I release the weights and worries. I release my children
\nand myself. This will be difficult. I’ll have to make new muscles and
\nnew movements. I will struggle and fail. Slowly I will learn to swim. I
\nwill float with my face to the sky.”<\/i><\/p>\n

It is difficult. Especially so for us. As I do my best to learn how to
\nswim as the parent for my girls, I too, will and have struggled, and I
\ntoo, will and have failed. But I am learning to swim, and I float with
\nmy face to the sky and smile hoping that she is smiling down on us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Julie is worried as am I. In Julie’s case it is swimming lessons. Swimming lessons here on the west central coast of Florida aren’t an option they are a requirement. We are literally surrounded by water and about every third … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kattywilly.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}