About face

I took L to her customary Saturday swimming lesson. She was like a changed swimmer -- from persistent whining and refusing to try at all (mostly because she doesn't quite get it, and has inherited her father's negative bouyancy issues), to swimming quickly and with confidence and just having a gas.

That's something that's rewarding to see, and I bet that I couldn't have got her to that point myself. Sometimes you can be too similar to your child to teach them something -- if you both get frustrated the same ways, it's hard to help them overcome problems.

I assume that's why my father only tried once to teach me to drive (although his giving impatient drivers the finger, when they honked on my stalling at a green light, was actually much-appreciated support.)