To swim...

Really Mom?  There isn't a Great White Shark...

Okay, so I caved!  How can you not cave when your child is staring at all of the people playing in the ocean, not one of them being eaten by the "big bad shark" like your mom told you they would be!  

So I gave in!  I kept telling myself, "more people are killed by bees, more people are killed by bees" and it worked, I wasn't nervous, well not too nervous!  

The boys swam, boogie boarded, and played catch in the waves and I read!  I let go and relaxed, got some sun and read my book.  Okay, so I admit it, I did go up to the lifeguard standing at the water's edge and discussed with him just how many sharks he sees in a day.

"In a day?" he asked me like I was NUTS!!

"I have only ever seen 2 sharks in my whole life living in Australia, and they weren't off of this beach ma'am.  By the way, where are you from?"  he asked.

I know he was waiting for me to tell him that I was from the moon, so I surprised him and said "America!"

"I think you have a better chance of getting shot in your country then getting attacked by a shark in mine."  he responded very matter-of-factly.

Okay, he had me there so I walked away with my tail between my legs and figured; if the lifeguards were doing this...

Yes, on the Australian beaches, they are really building a sandcastle!!

then more than likely I could relax!  And like I said, I did.  Little did everyone know that I had this guy on stand-bye...

My lifeguard!

Hey, I did say I wasn't too nervous!

To swim, or not to swim...

that is the question.  Why?   Because I know that this guy is waiting just below the surface for me!

I know that statistically I have a better chance of being killed by a falling coconut, but there are a lot of reports of shark attacks in Western Australia and I'm not really feeling like any one of us becoming a statistic this Holiday season!

As many of you who know me, or read my blog know, I am a bit neurotic.  Australia brings out the worst of my neurosis.  When I am here on holiday, I am rarely relaxed.  I shake out the sheets before bed, why you may ask?  

The spiders here look like this...

and they are LARGE, 2 inches for the body alone, and to quote the Australian Travel Guide; "aggressive"!  I really don't want to meet up with one of these guys in the middle of the night!  

Then there are the snakes!  Yep, they have those as well!  7 of the 10 deadliest in the world call Australia home. And yes, this little guy is considered"aggressive" as well.  

Maybe I shouldn't say "little", he can grow quite large, and are often found on the golf course behind my in-laws house.  That's the course that my teenager plays quite often while we are visiting.  

But these guys you can see coming, you can simply walk the other way if you come across one.  That shark at the top, once you are in his domain, there is no going around him.  If he wants to, he simply eats you for dinner...and that brings be back to my question; 

"To swim, or not to swim?"

My husband and I argue over this every time we come.  He says "yes", I say "NO" and we go round and round.  We end up going to a beach that is completely inhabited with people for the great white to choose from.  Completely inhabited with cute Australian life guards to save us once we have been bitten, and even has a helicopter flying above to warn us if they spot a great white.  There are easily 75 people in the water, and I am still convinced that he is there, waiting for me.  So, what do I do?  I let my husband go in and boogie board, with my kids.  I sit there tense as I could possibly be and I watch.  I am trying to not project my fear onto my kids, trying to be brave,  but they do tend to sense my anxiety  when I absolutely panic and yell "shark" as a dolphin swims by!

Oh yea, and can I tell you the animal that causes the most deaths in Australia each year...The European Honey Bee!

So from now on, my answer is "not to swim!"

What do you think?