Archive for June 17th, 2008

On Sunday we took the boys to the Community Center swimming pool. This thing is a kids’ dream. Zero-depth entry, a waterslide, big pipes splashing water on people in the pool, the works. Every mom in the area spends all summer there ’cause they can’t get their kids away from it.

Every mom but me, that is.

See, my kids can’t swim. It’s not for lack of lessons, but one has sensory issues and the other one is “monkey see, monkey do.” It’s made for some wild swim lessons. We dropped lessons last summer for the sanity of both me and the teacher. We knew it was time when she and I were considering dropping the boys at the childcare after the lesson to go get a drink.

But I digress.

So I’ve avoided the swimming pool for the last few years. Other moms look at me like I’ve grown a second head or a third arm when I say that. Uh, sorry ladies, but I care about my kids not drowning. I couldn’t trust them there. I was afraid one would go one way, one go the other, and then just imagine every drowning nightmare and that was why we didn’t go. Or…we’d get into the water, and I’d have one squirming and grabbing on one hip, one squirming and grabbing on the other hip, and my swim top being pulled about to show what God didn’t grant me.

No, didn’t sound fun to me either.

So we went to the pool on Sunday with a great deal of trepidation. It only took 45 minutes to get ready (sweet Lord, sunscreen application takes forever). But you know what? The boys were great! A went down the water slide by himself and didn’t freak out. A floated by water jets and didn’t freak out (seriously, this is a big deal; I thought I was going to have to put him in therapy for waterjetaphobia). A put his face near, in, and under the water and didn’t freak out. A got water stuck in his ears and didn’t freak out but bounced until it came out. J had on water wings and didn’t freak out. J went down the water slide with daddy and didn’t freak out. J blew bubbles in the water and didn’t freak out.

I never thought I’d see the day.

And we’ll return to the pool many times this summer…if we can get the sunscreen dance to under 30 minutes.