Sunday, February 26, 2006

Warning: Swim at Your Own Risk

It's been another family weekend - glad to have Sydney recovered so that Bogey, Travis and Steph could finally come over again on Friday. I'm certainly realizing I'm quite happy to be a home-body.... with the activities we are invited to do, or have the option to participate in, John and I so often find ourselves so excited just to get home and relax.

Saturday night was one of those scenarios..... Both John and I woke up not feeling 100%. John was dealing with a head cold and I had caught a friend's stomach bug, so the idea of going to Brayden's soccer game and then a party at the local wave pool less than thrilled us. In fact, by the end of the soccer game, John and I were both spent. We decided to skip the party, but upon hearing the kids literal cries of sadness, we told them we'd see how we were feeling after a nap. Perhaps due to their prayers, we were feeling better enough to attempt the adventure.

Boys parties always bring out the elementary school teacher in me. The chaos, lack of following directions, and general little boy crudeness sets me in high tension mode, this one was no exception. Feeling sick enough to know not to eat, but hungry enough to want all the pizza there, didn't help either. Oh well - Brayden's turn is coming up in about a month, it will be my chance to manage the show then. Perhaps, my real tension lie in the fact that I knew I was supervisor of both kids in a huge wave pool as John wasn't willing to suit up feeling the way he did.

Here comes my opinion in this post - do not try this feat by yourself. Brayden is an okay swimmer in a calm pool, but put him in waves in a depth above his head and you have disaster. And, of course, Mikayla doesn't stand a chance. The kiddos were allowed to just go, and apparently, the other parents had more trust in their children's talents than myself. That made Brayden MIA immediately as I had to change with Mikayla. Fortunately, he was off to the slide, but that left him virtually invisible when we were trying to find him. (Yes, John was patroling from the deck). I'm glad we made our promise good with the kids, but even they were ready to leave after an hour as Brayden proclaimed he "drowned" in the big pool while trying to get back on an intertube (I was at his side, but between Mikayla in my arms, jumping the waves, and manuevering the tube - Brayden was sucking in some water....)

So, that was our Saturday. Sunday has been much tamer as we've cleaned out closets and finally fixed the top bunk of Brayden's bed.

I planned on writing more about the power of suggestion, but I need to get Brayden some mac and cheese. Perhaps tomorrow.... Hope your week begins in a wonderful way....

1 comment:

teedub said...

I wouldn't allow Brayden to play alone, without adult supervision, at the Wave Pool, and that is for no other reason than this: he could be the best swimmer in the world for a kid his age, but when you get a bunch of waves involved and a bunch of other kids and adults being pushed around by the waves, I would get a little nervous not having him in my sights at all times. All it would take is one elbow to the head from a passing person and he could be out cold.

Stephie, I don't see any problem with your feelings about letting Brayden off on his own without supervision. Brayden said it best himself when he said that he "drowned" in the big pool. That is just too scary for me. Now, this is my own personal opinion and is not meant to judge, offend, or put down anyone else. This is just how I would feel if I were the one taking Brayden and/or Mikayla and was the one responsible for them.

I am glad you guys had a nice Sunday. We really missed you guys, but I was not feeling all that well either (walking pneumonia) and I just wanted to stay at home and in bed all day long. I pretty much did that too.