Oh, I remember what I wanted to blog about yesterday. We finished swim lessons! Since Monday I’ve been warning the boys, “This is the last week of swim lessons. After today there will only be three more days…two more days…one more day.”
Well, the last day finally came. Can I tell you how ready I was to have it over? No more damp towels in my van. No more mad sunscreen slopping sessions. No more frantic searches for a clean swimsuit. Oh, I was so ready to be done.
So there we were. The last lap had been swum, the last hauling out of an unwilling Raphi from the baby pool. We’d waved goodbye to our poolside friends for another year, and headed out to the parking lot. Free at last.
I strapped the kids into their seats and started up the van. And as I began to pull out of the parking lot, a wave of sadness washed over me. Shake it off, I thought. This was a grueling schedule I was happy to have behind me. Time to settle into the soberness of the school year. Who needs all those UV rays, anyhow? No, I told myself firmly, you will not get nostalgic about another year of swim lessons behind you.
Ah, but I’m hopeless. Even though I know I’ll be all excited about the new school year next week, tonight I’m just a little sad about the end of another swim season. In the time it took me to get from the pool to the van I did an emotional 180, forgetting how tired of the swim routine I was. It’s pitiful, I know.
I have this problem about milestones of all sorts. Remember Raphi and the horses? Well, he used to say “horsies.” I don’t know why, but he likes the diminutive form of a lot of words. I, on the other hand, appreciate precision in language. So every time he said “horsies,” I would primly reply, “Oh, do you see the HORSES?” Then one day we were driving past and he said, clear as a bell, “Horses!” And I, who had been pushing the correct terminology on him for weeks, got all teary at my baby growing up.
So here’s the question; in another 16 years or so, when all the boys are out of the house, do you think I’ll forget how much I wanted a few minutes to myself? Am I going to be weeping by the window, failing to take the opportunity to read a book, write a book, eat an entire bowl of ice cream without assistance, or take a nap? Yeesh. If that happens, remind me, ok? Someone promise to give me a swift kick if I need it.
Onward and upward, and no looking back!