We are having a lot of fun around here this summer. The boys have taken to swimming, well-like fish to water. Especially Cole. It doesn’t matter what kind of water it is- he loves it. From water from the hose, to the kiddie pool, to the sprinkler, to the water at the swimming pool- he is thrilled around water.
We have been trying to go swimming at least once a week. We are pretty lucky that our town has two great kiddie pools, that we can alternate between them. Today we took the boys to the kiddie pool in town that has a slide. It isn’t a huge slide, but it is adequate for kids of all sizes.
I say that because Ryan wouldn’t go on it. He didn’t want to at all. But Cole- we couldn’t keep him off of it. Never mind that he was the only two year old going down the slide. Never mind that all the other kids going down the slide were at least twice his age. He was just in his own little world, and he was going down that slide as much as he wanted.
He would climb up the rock stairs, and wait his turn-just like all the other kids. Then when it was his turn, he’d sit on the slide, and look at the water running down it. Oblivious to the fact, that he was holding up the line. He just had a grin on his face a mile wide. He had waited in line, and he was going to make the most of it! He examined the stream of water coming out of a sprinkler to keep the slide wet, and had to touch it and play with the water. No amount of coaxing from his daddy or mommy would make him hurry up. This was his time to decide when he was ready to slide.
And when he decided it was time to go, he let go, and swish…down the slide he went, with even a bigger smile into his daddy’s arms. If he got water in his eyes, or in his nose, it didn’t bother him. He would laugh, and quickly squirm out of daddy’s arms to go get in line again, and do what he just did, all over again.
Ryan was just happy to be bouncing around in the water and playing. At one point he came up to me, gave me a hug and said, “I’m having so much fun in this pool Mom.” Another time, I was holding him in the deeper water, and he told me to take him back to shallow water, because he had a great idea. Once we were in the shallow water, he asked me if I wanted to dance with him. So we did a little waltz in the water.
I had so much fun playing and watching my boys today. They are so sweet and innocent, and watching them have fun, just made me appreciate again how fortunate we are to have them. It doesn’t get much better than dancing in water with your four and a half-year old, or seeing pure joy and excitement in your two year-old’s face, as he experiences a water slide for the first time.
When I was a kid, my mom used to take us swimming, but she never went swimming herself. She said she had just as much fun, sitting on a beach blanket watching us. I never understood that growing up- but today I did. I understand what she meant all those years ago. As long as your kids are having fun, and enjoying themselves then you are too, and it is the most fun you will ever have.