I am not sure when, but my sister bought my child a small pool. Despite her unhappy relationship with water, my daughter loves it. She sees it in the garage where we store it and points to it, saying "pool." We hardly fill it, and since it sits on a slight angle only half of the pool has water in it. It is great for a child who stands for her baths and cries half of the time. She has come so far as to kneel and lay on her belly, yet she won't sit on her bottom. She has toys, on e being a cup that she likes to fill and dump down her front. She even has a head first method of getting in the pool.

I am hoping that this will prepare her somewhat for our week at the beach. Although I do realize a placid two inch, half filled pool is quite different then a constantly moving, ever deepening, always pulling ocean. The sand alone may be a factor.

We will see. I was told that one trip to the beach while I was a youngster found me terrified of the water. My family tried and finally the last day or so, I found the water to be great fun. But I was sorely unhappy to have it end so soon. If only I had given it a chance sooner. I think my daughter will.