Do You Have a Fearless Child?

Ahhhh!!!! The holidays are approaching so fast. I have a gazillion things to do to prepare for a gazillion visitors. And I have done nothing! I tell you, nothing! Also, my son will be returning from college. I can’t wait! It’s been so long. Enough about me.

Do you have a fearless child?

If you are a reader of my blog, then you know that I have devoted a lot of time to helping children overcome their fear of water. But what about the child who has no fear. The fearless child. Always putting himself in harm’s way and not considering the outcome. This child is at an even higher risk of drowning than the fearful one.

Check out these great tips on parenting the fearless child.

I struck up a conversation with a woman recently about her fearless child.

She told me that her son, five years old wanted to show her “his skills.” And, yes, she did include the air quotes when speaking of “his skills.”

So, here’s what happened. During a visit to a friend’s house, the five-year-old, let’s call him Johnny, ripped off his water wings and stepped into the inground spa (not heated to the typical hot tub temperature).

Now standing on the seat and with the intent to make it to the other side, he leapt into the middle with all the confidence one can muster. In an instant, with limbs akimbo, (I bet you never saw that coming) and with his mother on the sidelines rooting him on, he did make it to the other side.

Johnny was a tad traumatized and perhaps a little surprised that it didn’t go down exactly as planned.

His mom said that the incident made him more aware of the fact that maybe he doesn’t have the “skills.” It’s a lesson that Johnny will not soon forget. And as a result, he’s much more cautious when he’s around water. Mission accomplished because isn’t that precisely what we all want from our children?

So give your children the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and let them experience the natural consequences (as long as it’s not too dangerous). It makes more of an impact and tends to leave a long-lasting impression.

But WHEN will they learn to make better choices? I’m glad you asked.

Did you know that the prefrontal cortex (decision making, problem-solving and moderating social behavior part of the brain) isn’t fully developed until about age 25 or so? For more on this, be sure to check out my blog post entitled When Will My Child Ever Learn?

In the meantime between now and when they celebrate their 25th birthday, you’ll just need to continue to help them make better choices.

So if you have little ones around the house, especially fearless kiddos, extra vigilance is essential when around bodies of water.

And be sure to continually remind them to stay away from water hazards, wear life jackets, stay close to adults, never swim alone, and the list goes on because they WILL forget.

Also consider fencing in your pool, spa and or landscape water features. Children ages 1-4 years most often drown in home pools, simply because there are no barriers.

If you have any thoughts on the subject or experiences that you would like to share about your fearless kiddo, I would love to hear from you.

Love the water but fence it in,

Tessa

P.S. Get the FREE water safety app to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water. It includes kid-friendly videos and quizzes. Search the iTunes app store for Swim by American Red Cross or click here. For Google Play you can use the same search parameters or click here. It provides the latest in water safety guidance to help ensure your family stays safe in, on and around the water.

P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.