I like to consider myself a smart cookie. I’m college educated and still pretty quick-witted. I’m also in “okay” shape. I can run pretty fast if I’m being chased, or if a cold beer is waiting for me at the end of the run. But sometimes you can’t prepare for things… sometimes adrenaline takes over and all the knowledge you thought you possessed has fallen by the wayside. Sometimes fear glues you to the ground as lightning is hitting you from the heavens and you are immobilized. I’ve never experienced this before this morning, and I hope I never have to experience it again.
Today is Memorial Day. A somber national holiday with beautiful weather where you can smell summer in the air. Shit, I live in FL we’ve smelled summer in the air since February… you can smell the end of school in the air today, and the humidity dripping down your cleavage (in the shade). It’s HOT.
Our house has a pool. It’s a beautiful pool but the heater has been broken. But now it’s crazy hot, and although my oldest isn’t fond of a cold pool the 3-year-old wants into that water… he’s been waiting for Memorial Day. And now it’s here.
We’ve been planing a family BBQ today. And since we had a soccer tournament this weekend we ended up inviting some of those friends too. It was going to be a lot of people and we spent the morning tidying up (which is so much easier and more enjoyable with my Hubby to help, but that’s a different blog).
So the middle monkey begged to get into the pool at 10 AM. My Mother has given me this children’s life-preserver/flotation device that he uses at her house (where he often swims) and he loves. I HATE letting a kid swim in a flotation device. especially a kid as big as my 3-year-old. He and I went for swim lessons twice a week for all of last summer. He CAN swim but he’s not confident. So, I geared him up in his life vest and continued working on cleaning the patio… within 5 feet of him.
The 3-year-old swam for over an hour…
“Mommy, watch this!”
{Jump, Splash}
“Daddy, watch what I can do….”
{Swims to ball, throws ball, jump, splash}
Buddy, make sure you jump away from the wall!
Honey, make sure you jump away from the stairs!
He’s having a ball and I’m having a hundred million little panic attacks in my brain. Water and kids scare the shit outta me. I didn’t get him this far to have something stupid happen. So, when he’s been in the pool for almost 2 hours and says he’s cold, and wants a towel, I’m thrilled.
We take off his floaty, towel him dry, grab him a drink and hubby and I start talking about the game plan for cooking and guests, and “will so-and-so show up” and “Oh, I hope they can make it”.
That’s when I heard the SPLASH!
I look to the pool and see that my 3-year-old has jumped into the middle of the water.
Without the floaty.
Alone.
The definition of bravery is the quality that allows someone to do things that are dangerous or frightening. This sight was both things. But I just screamed to my husband while I was frozen to the floor.
He acted swiftly and without hesitation. Jumping in the pool with all his clothes and shoes and phone (Lifeproof case) and quickly grabbed our boy from the pool. He was fine and in one piece barely spending a nano-second under water.
He was more scared by my scream then anything else and I, I was more scared by my immobilizing fear.
He really thought he had that life vest on, and maybe, just maybe, he really would have been able to swim without it.
But I wasn’t going to chance that.
He starts swimming lessons at camp in 2 weeks. No more false sense of security. We’ll have the normal mommy safety net out then
Next time I’ll be right there. No fear. Just there.
