When i was a kid my mom made my sister and I take swimming lessons. I would always get ridiculously excited about a pool. "ITS A CHANCE TO GET IN THE WATER AND SWIM OMG OMG OMG!!!" i would think. I've never been as much of a natural swimmer as my sister and took what the teachers said quite literally. When one instructor told us how to do the basic kick where you keep your legs straighter in the water, instead of thrasing like little kids do, i grabbed a kickboard to hold onto and kept my legs board straight, no bend AT ALL. Needless to say it took me years to get from one side of the pool to the other, and back again. (disclaimer* i was also probably the youngest and I'm a very short person)

I remember one day we practiced bobbing up and down in the water, i'm not sure why, but apparently its a very vital skill to have in swimming. Once again we had to go to one side of the pool and back again. All bobbing....the whole way. The smart kids swam part of the way but I was determined, and naive. I lurched down, pushing with my little, stubby arms to get to the bottom of the pool and push back up with all my might. I ingested so much water that afternoon, its not even funny.

I have always had a very sensitive stomach. When I was a kid it seemed I could not get the cause and effect that when I ate like really crappy foods I would get sick. Maybe its because I didn't realize there are differences between good and bad foods? who knows. But, I can remember when I was around 8 my parents began letting my sister and I say up a little late on Saturday nights. It was like a responsibility thing in my eyes, not my parents', but Cait could seem to control herself and handle not eating like a pig and suffering the conequences for eating like there was no tomorrow late at night. My dad made the most delicious homemade popcorn you hae ever tasted. It, for some reason, never crossed my mind that I should probably stop eating or not eat as much as humaly possible. Inevitably my stomach would start to rebel against me and I'd be sleeping on the floor next to my parents' bed....more vomiting than sleeping. My poor parents would stay up making sure I wasn't dying. It was like a weekly routie. Oh its Saturday night? that means its time for Linds to eat her weight in popcorn, and stay up too late puking. I eventally learned to control my appetite for popcorn and control myself, and it seems i outgrew the throwing up stage. A few months after I outgrew this stage, I started developing so many cavities. It seemed like every dentist appointment I had at least one cavity. It wasn't until a few years later I made the connections between the two. I still stay up too late, especially on saturday nights. Maybe as I get older I'll outgrow that stage as well.