Water for the first time

Before leaving the house

• Check with whoever looks after her health about sunscreen and sun exposure, which changes with age.
• Go early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Midday sun is uncomfortable and the water gets too warm.
• Take more clothes than seems necessary: you will be changing her three times.
• A large hooded towel, a wide-brimmed hat and guaranteed shade, a parasol or a tent.

The first reaction is usually not a smile

A fright, crying and clinging to your neck are all common reactions. It does not mean she dislikes water; it means this is a new and enormous sensation. Go in holding her, slowly, wetting her feet first.

Recording it without missing it

• Ask someone else to take the photos. Both your hands will be busy.
• The photo that matters is the face at the instant of first contact, and it lasts two seconds.
• Film fifteen seconds with sound: the noise of the water with her squeal is half the memory.
• One photo of the feet in the sand or the water, from above. Simple and always lovely.

Afterwards

Write two lines the same day: where it was, how old she was, and how she really reacted. Ten years from now you will remember that there was a first time, not what it was like.