Without Warning

You have watched a child trying out a new skill. Have you taken note of the concentration and how committed they are to the process? Have you noticed how committed you were when your child was learning to walk? Or talk? Or use utensils like knives and forks at dinner?

Learning is lifelong. And it’s forever. Our brains are full of stuff we have learned and haven’t forgotten.

My Gran told us kids not to swim immediately after eating because we’d get cramps. She never expanded on that statement. To this day, I am not sure which part of my body the cramps would hit. Nor did I know what they might feel like.

Would they hit without warning? Or would there be some advance notice, like a gentle tightening of a body part?

Did we eat, then jump straight into the pool? Not while Gran was around. The uneasy feeling that an alien spasm, kink, stitch or convulsion was just around the corner was enough to keep us dry until sufficient time had passed and we were given the all-clear.

The optimal time? About an hour, give or take. I remember my mother attempting the same restriction, but the time was reduced to 45 minutes.