The Miss Elaine-ous Life

random acts of life, family and photos

Just Keep Swimming

by

“Where did the big girl come from?”  We say it a lot these days.
The sun was bright and hot while we were at the pool yesterday.  I kept one eye on G and the other on K while Tim and Ben went down the big S-shaped slide.  Everyone is braver this year.  Ben loves the slide, G puts his face under the water without a problem and K is fine without a floatie. 
But I still watch and worry and try to keep them in my sight at all times, scanning for light blue goggles and dark blue goggles and purple goggles. 
There are kids everywhere diving under and hollering, “mom!” and wearing goggles of all colors. 
I don’t see K and my heart starts to pound.  The first place I look is under the water but I do not see her.  I stand upright and scan the splash pad area and when I do not see her pink paisley suit there, I desperately look towards the toddler pool. There she is making friends. 
I didn’t even know where she got the goggles that she came back with, as Tim and I were looking at each other with questioning in our eyes. 
“Baby, where did you get those goggles?”
“The bag, Mom!”
She is no longer a “baby” at all.   Why in the world do I even call her that?
She had gotten out of the pool, went straight over to our swim bag and gotten them herself.  She is no baby.  And she wants to be just like her brothers and wear goggles. 
I suddenly get a glimpse of the future – they are all at the pool without me or with me just there to be there, not to supervise or worry or watch.  Just to see them with much longer legs, diving and jumping and splashing.  I read a book, barely looking up.  They come to me for money for the snack bar and that is it…
Each summer goes faster and each year they get bigger and need me less.  It is good but it is also hard to realize.  I am glad not to have to sit in the toddler pool the entire time but I miss the baby chub poking out of bathing suits.   Tim says to me “they are fine” but I am still their mother and know that the lifeguards cannot possibly see everything.
Someday they will all swim on their own.  I know…
Yesterday, as we were getting ready to leave I found an old, unused swim diaper in our bag….

I threw it in the trash bin as we dripped our way to the exit.

GFunkified

Comments

  2. I still miss the baby chub, too. And my baby is almost eleven.
    Great post! It is nice to not have to worry about them much at the pool anymore, but, as their mother, there is always something else to worry about. I doubt that ever stops.

  3. I found some swim diapers with the summer clothes when I unpacked them a few weeks ago. I felt a little lump in my throat knowing that they were not needed anymore. These children do just grow so fast.

  4. Sounds like we had similar bittersweet heart pangs this weekend. I’ll be putting up a post about James’ pre-k graduation later this week that will read eerily similar.

  6. Great post, Elaine. My husband always says the same thing “they’re fine” – sometimes I wish I could just be that cool about it 🙂

  9. I know just how you feel. I was looking at old pics that other to compare my 1 year to my four year old and I was so floored by how much she has grown and changed in such a short time. It goes so quick but I like to remind myself that we are entering a new phase full of possibilities.

  10. Aw, I felt similarly when we went to the pool over the weekend. Everyone’s jumping and diving in and splashing around (there’s still Oscar) but everyone else is…like you said….braver this year. And the swim diapers reminded me: a mom came up to me and handed over her stash of extras. Said she found them in her swim bag from last year and this year her littlest was potty trained. Did I want them? Sure! I took them. But next year that will be me. Oscar will maybe be PTed, so. Time marches on, eh?

  11. Sigggghhhhh. They grow so fast. Watching them learn to be independent and just doing it…gah…makes you feel blessed that they are growing…but at the same time sad because they are growing.
    Moms can’t win.

  12. Seriously. And then the summer is over and they’re another grade higher in school and then they’re done and it’s summer again…?!?! I’m having a hard time realizing that I’ll have a 2nd grader, 1st grader, and preschooler in two short months. ACK! Erv WILL BE my baby until he tells me to stop calling him that, though.

  14. I feel the same way. Our “baby” is definitely not a baby anymore. She is getting more and more independent and helps with things that I think, she’s too young for but is more than capable doing herself. Time flies.

  16. I know that heart-pounding minute of where the heck is the little one oh so well. I just had it yesterday at the pool. And oh the growing, so bittersweet. Lovely post!

  17. It does happen way too quickly, doesn’t it? Although, I’m a little excited of the idea of not having to be in the water with them and being paranoid that I have to look at the bottom of the pool when I can’t spot them for one second.

  18. She’ll always be your “baby”.
    And, ohmygoodness…it’s hard to watch them all at the pool. I’ve had many heartstopping moments of ‘where are they?’ and they’re perfectly fine.
    LOVE that photo.

  19. Sigh. I know this. When I took the kids to the pool earlier this week it was dreamy. They can’t “swim” per se, and I had to stay in the pool with them, but I didn’t feel nervous. I didn’t get a headache from the constant anxiety. I didn’t feel like i was constantly having to keep them close. Precursor of things to come.

    Of course it helped that we were practically the only ones there, but I’m taking this as a good sign.

  20. Aww. I know! Grace just taught herself how to pump her legs on the swing. She doesn’t even need me to push her anymore! What is this world coming to???? It is craziness. Why must they grow SO QUICKLY?

  21. I too recently found old swimmie diapers that I tossed out! It happens so fast…I kind of like that I can sit back and watch them play these days versus all of the chasing I used to do. I don’t know if I’d go back in time but I’d freeze time right now for sure!

  22. The days go slow but the years fly by…..
    My middle child is just finishing her Junior Year of high school.
    My oldest is 20 and I still call my baby girl “baby”…she is 12. I probably always will. =)