A Day at the Pool

With our vacation quickly approaching, I wanted to try to get Colin acclimated to the water so he wouldn't be totally freaked and want to stay inside the whole time at the beach. He also starts swim lessons (round 2) soon and I didn't want to have the only child crying in the water. So I thought today would be the perfect day to visit our neighborhood pool. I asked him if he wanted to go and probably completely unaware as to what he was answering to, he said "Yes!"

We dig out the swim trunks, one of 2 remaining swimmer diapers from last year, fight the sunscreen battle, load up our bag, and off we go in the umbrella stroller. I hadn't made it to the next door neighbors house before I realized the umbrella stroller was a bad idea. It's about 1 foot too short for my arms (I can only imagine how Wes was able to maneuver it), the 20-lb beach bag is on the handle hitting my foot with every step, and it's really hard to steer. Colin was perfectly content and pointed out EVERY bird along the way.

We made it to the pool, only to read that it didn't open until noon! It was only 10:50. Luckily there's a small park right next to it to pass the time. Colin plays on the equipment for a brief period before beginning his OCD pastime - collecting and organizing. He proceeded to collect all the rocks and place them in a neat pile. That kept him occupied for quite some time and I enjoyed resting on the bench. As I sat there I contemplated what he could do next that wouldn't involve me having to get up (forgive me, I was having a lazy day). I had it - I'd ask him to move all the rocks to a different location. Yep, he fell for and happily obliged. Normally we would not have stayed there for over an hour, but I was bound and determined not to waste one of the two remaining swimmer diapers!

Finally it was time for the pool to open and off we went. I put my feet in the Arctic water and tried to fake that it wasn't cold. I got him to stand on the first step of the baby pool. That was short-lived after he felt the temperature. He took a deep breath and said "brrr". Being the great, lazy parent that I am, I stay there while he goes over to our bag to fish out a toy...or my cell phone. About this time a little boy and his family come in the side gate. Colin, not the most coordinated child (he gets it honestly), watches the little boy and continues walking towards me. We're all accustomed to staring in this house so I just watched and smiled...until he walked right into the pool! I lunged from my post and scooped him up out of the water. I felt like I was moving in slow motion towards a scene from tv. He was laying there face down and looked just like what you expect a person to look like who had died of drowning. He was fine but my cell phone that was in his hand and thus fell in the water with him, was not so fortunate! I think the frigid temperatures took over and he just wanted to be wrapped up in a towel. A few minutes later he was up and about and rearranging the chairs. Unfortunately, that was our only dip in the pool. I asked him several times if he wanted to get in and there was no hesitation before he said, "no". I suppose the trauma of the experience would've scared me out of re-entering as well. Here's hoping our next trip to the pool goes a little better. Hopefully seeing the other kids in the pool will entice him to try it. Although he is a loner and prefers to look at other children from afar. Hmm, who does that sound like, Wes?

Apparently this is a common occurrence among children this age. I wish I would have had the quick thinking skills of this mother to avoid any permanent scars.