Saxon has always been my fearless child.
If he says he's too afraid to do something,
it's usually because he's just trying to get out of doing it,
not because he's actually afraid of it.
Everything the big boys did at the lake, he wanted to do.
Tubing.
Wakeboarding.
Wake Surfing.
Kneeboarding.
Kneeboarding quickly became his favorite.
It's not that hard, and he feels like he's really doing something cool.
Mostly he would just stay on his tummy on the board and cross back and forth over the wake.
One time, the boys suggested to him that he should try to get up. They explained how to loosen the straps, get your knees in place, and then velcro yourself it. I figured that it was too many instructions for a 5 year old and I thought he would just ignore them.
In fact, at one point, he got so sick of everyone shouting advice to him from the back of the boat that he started saying,
"I'm just going to do this however I want! Don't tell me to do things."
So, after the latest instructions, my little guy was off behind the boat getting ready.
Then he shouts "Hit it!"
And we're off.
At first he just stays on his belly. Then he holds the rope with one hand as he starts to loosen the strap. Then we see his little bum go up in the air and he tries to maneuver his knees under him. And then he had it! He was up on his knees, in the right spot, knee boarding. He was really doing it! He even strapped himself in. He adjusted the velcro over his knees and got himself all snugged in. It was the cutest thing ever! He looked so little out there.
Not only was he knee boarding, but he was doing an amazing job.
He had great balance and great control.
After a while my little brother asked,
"What will happen when he falls, now that he's all strapped in? Will he get trapped under water?"
Silence.
What will happen? Now we were a little nervous. If he were to have a huge wipe out, it would probably knock him out of the board, but what if he just tipped over?
One of the boys suggested that we start pulling him in so that we can get him close and then stop the boat and just pull him in. It sounded like a good idea, so the boys started pulling him closer. While they were pulling him, my mom was slowing the boat.
It seemed to be working until the boat got too slow and he tipped over.
The knee board flipped over and trapped him, all strapped in, underneath.
I think my heart stopped.
My 13 year old brother Kasen immediately jumped in the water and started swimming towards him. A second later his friend Wyatt jumped in too.
Saxon some how managed to get his body through the straps and it ended up around his waist. He could get his head above water just long enough to take a breath and cry out and then the board would push him down again.
It was probably only a minute before Kasen reached him and flipped him over. The two boys untangled him and towed him in.
When they got him to the swim step, I pulled him in, wrapped him in a towel and hugged him. He told me how he couldn't breathe and how he was stuck. We gave him his own Diet Coke to make him feel better (I know, I know...but it was the best I could come up with in the moment...) and then my mom let him help her drive the boat.
After we got back to shore I asked him if he was scared.
I should have known better.
He's not scared...he's mad! How dare those stupid straps trap him like that...next time, he wants someone to take off those straps and throw them away so he can knee board without getting stuck.
Like I said...
Fearless.
