We went to a race that my youngest son’s school sponsored the other day, and at the end of the race, a lot of the kids went down to the lake to play.

Our two-year-old was pretty excited to get to go down with them and play on the “beach”, so we put her swimsuit on her and I followed her to the water.

From 5 feet behind her, I could tell that it was going to be a problem when she didn’t stop when she got to the edge but kept walking…..farther out than I’d hoped.

She was too excited to stop, though….even though I was yelling to her that it looked deeper than we thought it was.

The beach wasn’t as gradual a slope as she and I must have both expected ….because when she was about 5 feet from the shore, it dropped off pretty dramatically.

I watched her tip….and then start to sink.

I ran in and pulled her out. She was surprised and a little scared, but not sputtering.

She must have held her breath because she wasn’t sputtering.

That’s a weird feeling to be reaching for my slippery baby, grabbing at a leg and missing, then grabbing her arm and pulling her out.

She turned over as she was sinking, and the look on her face was, again, more surprise and confusion than fear.

Wide-eyed and underwater.

That’s not a look that I hope to ever see again.

Going down….surprised and a little bit scared.

Fearlessness that’s based on inexperience can get you into trouble.