Little Miss Independent

Yesterday afternoon my husband and I took our almost 3 year old daughter, Ella, to the swimming pool. Ella is currently sporting a one-piece swimsuit with "floaties" built in because I'm still going through the summer clothes and I have yet to find her life jacket. The floatie suit is just a tad too buoyant for Ella to be able to completely control where she goes in the water so Ella has been hanging on to the edge of the pool, inching herself around and refusing all help or assistance. I finally just grabbed her, got her in the middle of pool and let go. She was a bit scared, but realized that she could float and "swim" on her own.

Once Ella got back the side of the pool, she would inch along as before but now she would let go completely, bob around for a few seconds, grab back on to the side of the pool and yell "ELLA DID IT! YEA!!" Numerous times she would bob too far down in to the water (thanks to the poor construction of the floatie suit) and come back up sputtering. I'd immediately offer assistance, but Ella REFUSED. "Ella no need help. Ella do it myself" (Don't you love the toddler third person language??).

I was dumbfounded. I knew Ella was independent and strong-willed, but the fact that she'd rather go under water and do it herself really showed me how very, very independent she is. She was insistent on doing it herself without any help from anyone. Now I'm praying really hard that God shows me how to help her harness that independence for good and that it doesn't show up as rebellion during the teen years. I often get worn out from the constant (and I do mean CONSTANT)disciplining I have to do with Ella, but I've read enough Dr. Dobson to realize that it is much easier to tame her will now than to think it will happen later.

I'm just hoping that Miles has a bit less independence than his sister!