PSA - Listen up, yo!

Yesterday was great. We had our family get-together for my side of the family. It was wonderful to see the kids again.

Yesterday was scary.

As many of you know, my parents have a house that's right on the water. I've posted pictures on here before of the backyard, on the back of which is a dock that we go fishing on, and in the summer it's our 'safe zone' for swimming in the channel, which has a pretty strong current the farther you get out. (Can you see where this is going yet?)

We were all enjoying the reasonably warm weather (for November) yesterday. All of the kids except for Eli were outside (which.... 4... 4 of them) doing various outdoorsy-activities. For a while, we were all throwing rocks off of the dock into the water, quite literally squealing with delight that it was not only ALLOWED to throw things, but ENCOURAGED (which doesn't happen often). After a while, Paul and I took the girls back to the lawn and started making our own mischief. My nephews stayed on the dock with my mother and my brother (their father). (Yep... you can see it now, right?)

As we were throwing various things for the dog to fetch, I heard a splash. I didn't think anything of it because they were throwing rocks into the river. A few seconds later I heard another splash. A BIG splash. I looked back, curious as to what kind of fish just jumped that would make that kind of splash, and I saw my brothers head poke out of the water, covered in seaweed.

And in comes the longest second of my life. It's quite comparable to that second you experience if you've ever been in a car accident. During which you have time enough to think that what's about to happen is really going to hurt, and crap, now I won't be on time for Thanksgiving dinner (in my own personal experience), and I wonder exactly HOW MUCH this is going to hurt, and so on and so forth.

At first I was thinking... "What the HECK is he thinking jumping in the river in NOVEMBER?"
Then I thought... "That's gotta be cold."
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"Shit. There is only one reason why an adult would jump into the river fully clothed in winter."

Sure enough, I take one step to the left, and I see Logan's head bobbing right there alongside his daddy, covered in seaweed. He had tripped on a boat hook that is at the edge of the dock and fallen headfirst into the water, through a huge pile of seaweed that had gotten caught on one of the posts.

Things went really quickly as soon as we all realized what was going on. Paul ran and grabbed a net that they could grab on to, Mike (my other brother) ran and grabbed some towels, and I herded the other children together and kept a white-knuckled grip on them. Logan was fine, just shaken up because of the seaweed. And maybe the 8 foot fall into 14 ft. deep, very cold, water. With shoes and a winter jacket on.

Now, I just wanted to put this up here for one reason. To convince people to put their kids in swimming lessons. I didn't see it, but my mom said that Logan went under when he fell, but then popped right up and started swimming. He is only four years old. But he didn't go under again. I have been a longer supporter for swim lessons for children, but this just proves how absolutely necessary it is. He's been in swim lessons since he was 18 months old. So PLEASE, put your kid in lessons. Especially if you yourself are terrified of water. Because these things happen. Even when you are standing right next to them, as my brother was.

There's my soapbox speech. Hope you take it and run with it.