#1 & #2 immediately went to take (and pass) the test, then spent the next 45 minutes flirting with every female under 30 while they waited in line for the two diving boards.
#3 meanwhile looked longingly on. He didn't want to play with either of his parents in the pool. He didn't want to play with any of the kids his age that came up and asked him to play. He wanted to go in the deep end and jump off the diving board.
For the first 45 minutes he was unable to find the courage to go take the test. He finally summed up the courage and took it. When he passed it I was surprised that he didn't walk across the top of the water to let us know. Instead he made his way over to the diving boards.
Of the two diving boards, one is a regular run of the mill diving board. The other is a "high" board (2 meters high). #3 gleefully jumped off the regular board over and over and over. While standing in line for it he would wistfully eye the high board.
After about 30 minutes of this, he gathered the courage to try the high board. When his turn came, he climbed to the top, went to the end of the board, looked down and turned around to climb back down to the bottom and go back to the regular board. Unfortunately for him, there was a long line, and he was unable to climb back down. He went back to the end of the board, took a deep breath, shut his eyes and plunged to his certain death.
When he bobbed back to the surface of the water, his face was full of such glee, we knew that he would not be back to the "little" diving board again.
While this may not seem like much of an accomplishment for any normal 9 year old, for #3 it is a definite milestone. #3, on any normal day, is a chicken of gigantic proportions. He is afraid of EVERYTHING. For him to have conquered these two items today, I am hoping he is starting to find courage within himself. I'm hoping he will no longer be known as "Screams at Shadows".
No matter what does or does not come of this, we all know now that if he needs or wants to, he is able to find the courage to face at least some of his anxieties and fears. This being the case, I'm still not going to hold my breath that he gets over his fear of spiders any time soon.