Back at the beginning of the month, the boys got some early Christmas gifts from Santa Claus when he stopped by the annual Kauffman Christmas. Among other things, each of their stockings contained a Li’l Swimmer, a motorized fish bath toy. Cricket’s was a great white shark, which he thought was the coolest thing ever. Thumper’s was a clown fish:

That’s right, Thumper got Nemo.

Anyway, we finally pried the new toys free from their layers of packaging last night at bath time, and Cricket thought his shark was totally, completely, and in all other ways, awesome. Jaws zipped round the tub amid squeals of delight (and my off-key attempt at humming a few certain notes from a famous movie).

But there were also more than a few squeals of terror, especially after Nemo joined in the fun. Thumper was scared of his shiny new bath toy! I felt bad for him because he’d really looked forward to playing with it.

Tonight then, on our way home from a Christmas party, we missed our turn and ended up a few miles further east than we should have been. As we were discussing where and when to turn around, Thumper spoke up from the back of the car: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…”

So remember, when the sharks of life get you down, be they adorable battery-operated clown fish or missed turns on a darkened road, take a page from Thumper’s book and just keep swimming. Or driving. Or something.

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