Reason #59 why I'm glad I don't have cable...

So we all know that children are easily effected by the things they watch on tv. I had another experience last week that drove that principle home. We were at the pool and Tyler kept going over to the waterfall and diving off a ledge that is about 18 inches above the water OVER and OVER and OVER again. He's always jumped from there, but not typically face first into the water. After coming home I noticed that he had dark bruises around his eyes from his goggles. I told him next time we go to the pool, he shouldn't dive from the high part of the pool face first. His response:

"But mom, I'm trying to be like those guys in China. I'm doing like the 'limpics."

Oh dear. My kid thinks he's Michael Phelps and I realize we've been watching way too much "limpics."

So of course, the next time we head to the pool, I bring my camera to capture this little future "limpian." I soon noticed that he swings his arms several times before every dive. Yep...you guessed it- Just like Mike. When I asked him about it he said, "I'm flapping my arms like those guys."

Here is his "undulating" under the water. Hilarious. If you've seen the lead off from the wall or the first few seconds after the swimmers dive in, you know exactly what he's trying to do here (by the way, this kiddo is a self taught swimmer. No swim lessons needed!).

Oh no. It doesn't end there. You should see him race around my house and try to jump over things and here is a classic "Tyler gymnastics" routine. This one is much calmer than his usual "run and dive head first into the ground in an attempt to do some kind of flip."

Oh well. At least these past few weeks have provided much entertainment for John and I (and I don't mean from watching the TV), but it will be good when it's all over and my son will stop thinking he's a professional athlete. But until then, I plan to let him watch synchronized swimming. Who knows what kind of fun we could have at the pool after that?