A day at the pool

Yesterday, I went to the local community pool with my good friend and her 10 month old son. My! How summer pool trips are so different now. I am reminded of my middle school summer days....walking carefully with a non-shock absorbing Disc-man, bright colored towel, and a few quarters for a coke. Now, I have a lathered baby on my hip, diaper bag across my chest, and a LL Bean initialed bag filled with bath towels, cheerios, a grilled cheese sandwich, and rubber toys. My friend, who is carrying an equal amount plus a pool float and pushing a stroller, directs me to the entrance of the pool. The gate is heavy to pull with our arms so full. If anyone can't tell, the new stay-at-home-moms have arrived at the pool.There are two high school/college-aged (I can never tell these days) boy-lifeguards checking in pool-goers. They were cute. Not in a "I'm-going-to-try-and-hit-on-you-with-my-sexy-one-piece-mom-bathing-suit" way, but now more maternalistic way. These precious "kids" have the simplicities of life at the pool. My one-piece, baby and I trot over to a shady area of the pool. Yeah, no more sun bathing but that's okay. Lydia has a thick coating of Baby50 lotion on and so do I.... I'm still a shade of white as we walk towards the stairs of the pool. My friend and I chat about husbands, residency, family, and our kids (our favorite topic). Lydia swallows water and her son wants to get out of the pool float after being in there for only moments. I glance over at some middle school kids (pretty certain) who are playing "Who's the Man" on a float. I smile at them. A few minutes later, the lifeguards blow the whistle and yell "BREAK!". I could have laughed out loud at all the forlorn kids who leave the waters. I remember this feeling all too well and smile again. My friend and I stared at each other....are we adults now, do we have to get out? We get out anyway...it was lunch time for Lydia. I set out a towel for Lydia to sit on and broke apart her grilled cheese sandwich into minuscule pieces. Precious. She sat there content and happy. Me too. Approximately ten minutes later, at the exact moment of the lifeguard yelling "ALL SWIM", there were great splashes in the pool... shear ecstasy for kids watching the lifeguard slowly sauntered over to his tower to finally blow the whistle. My friend and her son go back to swim. If anyone has seen my skin, it is quite obvious I don't do well with prolonged exposure to sunlight. And neither does my fair skin offspring thanks to genetics. We decide to stay in the shade a bit longer to play with an apple and water bottle. This truly was relaxing. A precious little thing is she. After my apple was all slobbered on and "floaters" are now appearing in my water bottle I realize it is about time to go. So did my friend. I felt as if we should blow a whistle and yell "NAP TIME!" Lol, but only I would think this funny. Lydia and buddy were close to melting down now. As any mom knows, there was only a few moment to capture before we would regret meltdown scene at the pool. I quickly take Lydia's bathing suit off by our chair and tear the sides of her Little Swimmers. I swore I would never strip my child down in public. Oh well. Sorry Lydia. We were in the shade anyways were there was nobody around. I'm sure the soft PJs felt good to her because she immediately put her fingers in her mouth. "I'm done" she communicates. My friend and I grab out gear and children and head towards the pool gate. The lifeguards quickly jump up to hold the gate for us. Had we drawn that much attention at our arrival? A sweet gesture. All in all, we only stayed there about an hour and a half. A lot of work for a few moments at the pool. We drove home and we both took naps inside a cool house. A superb day at the pool. Albeit extremely difficult, I am blessed this is my day job.