Parents of the year, right here

I left out one wee little detail about our lake vacation. I shall confess it now: our daughter, our one and only child, the lass whose adoption is still being paid for on a ten-year loan, she-who-only-wears-dresses . . . fell in the lake on the second day.

I was in the cabin making biscuits at the time (no, that is not a euphemism for anything - I was actually making biscuits), so clearly the incident was solely her father's fault. While we had been very conscientious about putting a life jacket on her when were out on the boat, we had not been requiring it when she was simply standing on the wooden dock with one of us. We should have known better, though, because A is not a graceful, coordinated sort of child. She frequently smacks her head on door frames and recently, somehow injured herself WHILE STRAPPED IN HER CAR SEAT.

At the time of the lake incident, she was fishing off the dock with her dad and somehow tumbled backwards into the chilly water. I have to imagine that his heart skipped a beat, though he will not admit to even the slightest measure of panic. He jumped into the lake immediately (the punchline: he had his cell phone in his pocket) and pulled her out. The water is only about three feet deep near the dock. He brought my sopping, teary child into the cabin, and I comforted her by . . . taking her picture.

We gave her a shower and changed her into some dry clothes. She didn't seem to be overly traumatized. She has been taking swim lessons at the Y since she was a baby, and although she doesn't technically know how to swim yet, she is not afraid of water. Looking on the bright side, she had a good story to tell when she went back to Kindercare. A tumble into a body of water builds character, I say. And she got a brownie out of the deal.

As for the cell phone, it started working again after it dried out. So, all's well that ends well. And for our next trick, we're planning to let her tip backwards in her chair.