A couple of close calls

I was reading a story about a pit bull attacking another pit bull today. The mean dog went for the other's throat and caused some damage. It wanted to fight. It could have killed the other dog had someone not stepped in.

Last week, Elizabeth and I went outside to water her plants that we planted when my mom stayed with us for a week while Patrick was out of town. I ran back in to fill up the watering can again and heard Elizabeth screaming out of terror. I can see from the kitchen all the way past the patio into outside but our couch is right in front of the sliding glass door. I ran outside to find a pit bull in her face. All over her face. I grabbed her and brought her onto the (closed in) patio where I realized that there was no blood, no marks, no pain. The dog had been licking her. Praise God. I don't generally see dogs without leashes in our neighborhood. Pit bulls aren't even allowed here. This one had chewed through his rope and I don't know where he was from. Since it was so hot out and he didn't eat my daughter, I gave him some water. I had to water the plants for a few days by myself. Now, she will do it, but if the water has to be refilled, she waits on the patio.

But I'm not done. This post is called, "A couple of close calls."

We went to a new friend's house to go swimming with some other friends as a last hurrah before the one friend went back to teaching this fall. I could not go swimming for girly reasons, but I let Elizabeth go in with everyone wearing her puddle jumper floaty. She was having fun and doing fine. We all got out to eat some lunch. I took her floaty off so she could eat comfortably. When she was done, she kept walking over to the pool. She was wearing her crocs and thought it was fun to walk along the edge just in the water. I kept telling her that she needed to stay away from the pool because there was no one in it and we weren't paying enough attention for her to go swimming. She came back every time I asked her to, but she kept making her way to the water. I was sitting in a chair with a sleeping Adelaide on my lap when I noticed it. Her head bobbing up and down in the water. Thankfully, I had read a post on what drowning looks like, so I recognized it. (Although I would have gotten her out of the water regardless, because she wasn't supposed to be in it.) I got up, fully clothed and carrying poor sleeping Adelaide and walked into the water to pluck Elizabeth out. She was fine. She wasn't even coughing because she had been holding her breath. It was terrifying. The other moms were freaked out too. I am so grateful that I was sitting in the chair I was. So thankful that I looked up and into the pool. So glad that I had prayed that very morning for help keeping my girls safe because I have heard too often how dangerous pools can be.

The next morning Elizabeth apologized for going into the water alone. I think she realized, at least a tiny bit, how serious it was. We are starting swimming lessons on Thursday. I know they won't be magic, but I figure that they can't hurt. I was talking to Patrick who wasn't very freaked out, presumably because he didn't see it. I told him that I realize there are a ton of ways that your child could die any day... but that day I saw a specific way. I saw the potential... I don't want to see it again.