Where there’s a will, there’s a way… to cheat.

The Preschooler’s swim lessons are going much better than expected this year. Her instructor this go-round seems to have had a lot of experience with young children and makes the lessons fun from start to finish. Each week the Preschooler looks forward to going… so much so, that she insists on putting her swimsuit on when she wakes up at 7 AM on the day of the lesson. So, I’m hopeful that she’s learning some skills that she can build on when we get a chance to practice on our own some this summer.

I’ve watched the last two lessons, though, and I’ve noticed that the Preschooler is still not ever going under the water. Somehow, she manages to do her strokes, play the games, float across the pool (with the instructor’s assistance), capture the bouncy ball, even jump in from the side, etc., all without ever letting her little head bob under the water. It’s amazing, really, how hard she works to stay in total control of the situation at all times.

There’s one particular game that the instructor has devised to help kids get used to putting their face in the water. A large ramp runs down one side of the shallow end, and the instructor throws colored rings at different intervals on the ramp and tells the Preschooler to pick them up one at a time. The idea, of course, is that as she goes down the ramp, she’ll need to dip her face under the water a bit to grab the rings closer to the bottom of the ramp. So, I watch as she gets the ones at the top of the ramp with ease. With a little more trepidation she strains her neck as high as it will go and manages to retrieve the rings at the middle of the ramp. And, then… the trickery begins. I’ve watched for two weeks now as the Preschooler treads to the bottom of the ramp, eyes the rings, and then… sneakily uses her foot to pick them up to avoid going under.

Is it clever? Yes.

Is it cheating? Most definitely. She has beat the system, and she’s so proud.

Each time the instructor tells her, “I think I see someone cheating. Blow your bubbles! Blow your bubbles!” And, with that, the Preschooler blows her bubbles on the surface of the water, all the while continuing to use her foot to get the out-of-reach rings.

Call it what you want… blatant defiance, clever manipulation, a simple misunderstanding of the game {doubtful!}…

All I know is… that will is a strong one. And, so is that neck.