I have two fish and a lizard.

My two older kids were born for water, Thing 03?  Not so much.

Despite the majority of their time being spent at the indoor pool at the Y, rather than on a tropical island somewhere like I’d planned decades before their birth,the first two took to water instantly and both resemble something more like pink Amazonian dolphins than children when submerged.

Thing 03 was a lizard. While my daughter (Thing 02) flung herself into the water given any opportunity (fortunately she could also dog-paddle quite respectably at a very young age as well) my youngest son could be relied upon to stay as far away from the offending substance as was physically possible. On his first day of swimming lessons, he literally climbed up on TOP of his teachers head and shoulders in order to minimise contact with the offending substance.

But this afternoon, as I watch him in the pool, I am struck by his absolute seriousness in his task. He’s just been introduced to formal strokes and the ripe young age of four, it’s clear that he now (having got over whatever he hated about the stuff in the first place) is “learning” to swim. There is no natural inclination there, like the other two have (and as such, they are strong, but disorganised swimmers).