Superhero Kid

My company picnic was yesterday. It was at one of my boss' houses - and he has an in-ground diving pool. There were several children at the party and most of them (including my two, who both had swimming lessons all summer and are strong swimmers) were hanging around in or by the side of the pool. Ashlyn was in the shallow end floating on an intertube and Lauren was sitting on the side of the pool with her feet in the dangling in the water, chatting with other girls her age.

My boss and I were standing talking about 100 feet away when we noticed a commotion in the pool. An older child (about 13) was in the middle of the pool, where the water was deep and over her head. She was flailing and alternately sinking and gasping for air.

He and I started running - me jumping down 2 tiers of landscaping and him running along the grass. As I was running, I saw two kids - one in the pool pulling the drowning girl along, and one crouching at the edge of the pool, reaching for her arms. By the time we reached the pool, the girl was sitting safely on the side of the pool, coughing and catching her breath.

I looked down and saw Lauren treading water by the girl, calm as could be, asking the coughing girl if she was ok.

MY NINE YEAR-OLD was the child that jumped in, pulled her up to the surface, and then towed her to safety.

Lauren later told me that she was sitting on the side of the pool and saw her friend drowning, so, without thinking, she dove in and grabbed the girl by the waist and pulled her up to the surface. The girl was panicking and kept pushing Lauren's head underwater, but Lauren kept going and hauled her over the side of the pool and helped push her out of the pool while another little girl helped pull her out.

I am amazed that my daughter knew what to do instinctually, acted without hesitation, without even calling for help,and stayed calm through-out the whole thing.

It's humbling to be awestruck by your own child.