[lily.]

This one is difficult for me.

When my daughter was 5, and my son was 2, we were entering a swimming pool at a holiday complex. I was carrying my son. My daughter went ahead.. down the gently sloping steps into the pool. She was only a few steps ahead of me, and as I made my way down the steps, carefully [because I was carrying my son], she jumped forward into the actual pool. She could swim a little bit, but not much, and was always by my side in the pool. This was the first time she'd ventured ahead of me into the water. The pool was really busy and she just seemed to get sucked out into the crowd within seconds, then she went under. I couldn't dive out as I had a toddler in my arms. I couldn't sit him down on the steps, even though the water was only about a foot deep. I was faced with an instant decision... It all happened so quickly, though looking back, it felt like the whole thing was going in slow motion.

I screamed out and pointed to my daughter. The pool was incredibly noisy, but I was louder than the noise.. [no surprise there eh?]. I just kept screaming and yelling 'please someone help her', and before the lifeguards could even get into the pool, this big hairy guy lifted her up into the air and brought her toward me. She was right behind him in the water, and he had no idea until I started making a scene. He just turned around, and scooped her up.... easy as pie.

Of course, she was absolutely fine. She hadn't been under more than 5 or 10 seconds, but it felt like an eternity, and I was a right state. I felt responsible. I still do.. [It's a parent thing]. The lifeguards and some of the other parents came to comfort me and I tried not to show it too much to her, because I didn't want her to react to my reaction. She recovered quickly and wanted to go back into the pool about 5 minutes later...

We went back in, but she had to hold my hand and walk slowly down the steps this time.

I know it's not the same as the moral dilemma, but it reminded me of it. :/