Since summer is almost over and i'm getting close to moving, i've been spending as much time as possible out by my pool getting my tan on and soaking up the last bit of Utah's summer rays.
Today while i was out at the pool i saw a mother teaching her 3 year old son how to swim and i became fascinated by the mother/child bond. There was a point when the mother was holding her son under his arms and swaying him across the top of the pool and together they giggled and he would yell "Again, Again!!" and again she would sway him once more. I was amazed at how quickly his confidence grew when his mother would convince him to go one stroke further during his swimming and how delighted both the mother and son were when he would come up for air only to realize that he had swam the entire width of the pool. It was one of those moments that i felt as if i was looking through a window of "what could be" and for a brief moment i felt at peace. Moms are cool.
I hope i'm a cool mom if i get blessed with kids one day.
I hope i'm a cool mom if i get blessed with kids one day.
So here i am daydreaming about the joys of raising a child when the mother starts begging her son for 10 minutes of lay out time. "Mommy needs 10 minutes ok? 10 minutes is all i'm asking and i'm going to set a timer on my phone so you know when the 10 minutes is up." She put the life jacket on her son and he stood there anxious for 10 minutes to pass... at 2 minutes he started asking "Is it time yet?".. "nope" she replied and as you can imagine this conversation trailed on for a few more minutes and the sound of distress in the mothers voice became more apparent.
Finally the son hopped back into the pool, life jacket and all and the world went silent. I looked back at the mother and her eyes were shut, finally at peace you can tell she had drifted off to paradise when suddenly, her son hopped back out of the pool with a noodle toy holding it in a U shape form approaching her on his tip toes, (and if you had a childhood you know where this is going...) he jumped on her chair and began spraying a fountain of water on his mothers face, the silence turns to abrupt screaming as she got a direct hit to the face from this water hahaha...
She was so upset.
It was in this moment that i laughed and shook my head realizing that as wonderful as having kids might be, i don't think i'm ready to give up my serenity of silence just yet. So in honor of being young and free, i popped my headphones back in to my ears, closed my eyes and took a large but necessary drink of my poolside margarita, vegging out once more.
In addition to feeling grateful i called my mom and told her what i had seen today. She recalls very well the lack of peace she felt while raising 4 kids but it doesn't matter if you have 4 or 19 kids, the moments of swaying through the water and giggling are the ones that get you through the next moments. It's the moments none of us really recall as kids, but the ones that create the necessary bond with our parents that reassures us of the love we share when all our parents really wish they could do is stick their feet on our heads & drown us.. It's a reminder of how one cherishing moment can effect all those around you, even if you're not blood related.
Welcome to parenthood.
