Mellissa, 3, "I don't wanna put my face in the water"

"We're not gonna put our eyes under water." "I...I...I...I don't wanna put my face in the water." It was like a broken record over and over and over again. I was warned. The e-mail that Mellissa's mom sent read...

"She just doesn't like putting her eyes in the water and she starts crying...I had to stop taking her (to swim lessons) because of her fear. As per the shower, it's exact same story! She hates them and cries every time about her eyes... She still loves swimming and being in the water, its just this eye/ face thing, I really don't know what to do anymore."

Mellissa walked onto the pool deck at Wave House Athletic Club looking quite confident. She had a lot of energy. She talked and talked as we walked down the steps into the pool. When we got to the second step, she squeezed my hand and told me, "I don't wanna put my face in the water." And she continued to tell me...

My wonderful, beautiful, surfer-chick second cousins were observing this interaction. They volunteered their Spring Break time to take pictures and videos of a few project participants and Mellissa was the first. They had an absolute blast watching her protest and me try to sneakily get Mellissa to like putting her face in the water.

Every time I came even remotely close to getting her face wet, Mellissa would try to distact me by talking and turning my attention away from the water. I accepted her challenge and  was able to get her face wet and even get her underwater. She really didn't mind. She didn't want to do it, but she didn't mind. She'd come up out the water talking! Great job, Mellissa! 

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