Observations From The Pool

Today was the first perfect pool day that we have had this summer. Well, perfect by my standards (88-92 degrees, fairly low humidity, sunny, slight breeze) my kids would go any day that it is over 70 degrees. So after nap time we threw a bunch of snacks it the cooler, every water proof toy we own, 3 clean and 1 slightly less than clean towel into a bag and headed to the pool. There was just the right size crowd at the pool today. Just enough kids there for my kids to have other people to play with but not so crowded that it felt cramped. Since my kids were entertained by other kids for awhile I got to participate in one of my favorite activities, people watching.

Parents at the pool in the afternoon all have pretty much the same look on their face, ” We are here. I’m doing my best. How much longer until bedtime?” Since this was our first week day trip to the pool it was the first time we had seen a lot of our “pool friends” in a year. We saw dad who has kids in relative proximity to each of my kids. He always has a drink coozie with a drink that I’m pretty sure isn’t a Diet Coke. Hey, but he’s always interacting with his kids, he “judges” all the swim races that the kids have and is teaching his youngest to swim without a life jacket. So he is one of my favorite pool parents. There is the mom who was pregnant last summer and now has a three year old, a two year old, and an 9 month old. She just looks exhausted. I happily let her big girls play with Maggie’s ponies as she rocked the baby in the carrier and I could tell she was fighting to stay awake. There is the young man with autism that I have watched grow up. I have a special place in my heart for him. He loves the pool and playing with my boys. There were a few new kids that we don’t know yet but I am sure we will by the end of the summer. There were a few teenage girls who never got in the pool and a few young teenage boys who were being loud and crazy ( as they should be) and I watched my oldest and could tell he really wanted to join them. There was the lifeguard who did not seem to be having her best day ever.
It was a great afternoon. Everyone got just enough sun, played hard for hours, ate big dinners and went to sleep easily. Now I feel like our summer has really started.

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