THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER VICTORY

September 4, 2008 by Nicole
Filed under: Toddlers

I intended for this to be our BIG POOL SUMMER. I thought my son would be ready to swim on his own and we would actually be able to play, play, play at our neighborhood pool.

Not the baby pool, THE POOL.

Well, intentions are just that. Sometimes they don’t happen.

Sometimes I intend on reading all evening with a good book, sometimes I intend to make a lavish meal during the week- these things don’t always happen either.

During the winter we hit a possible crimp in my BIG POOL PLANS…

My son got tubes in his ears. So what did I do? I had him fitted for custom made earplugs AND got puddy-like earplugs in case he liked those better, and thought we were set.

The only problem was that my 4-year-old son couldn’t stand earplugs in his ears. And I wasn’t surprised. He takes a long time to adjust to something new, as well as being a little stubborn (um… just like his mom).

To make a long story short, we spent the whole summer going back and forth about the earplugs; to my chagrin, I gave in and just held him in the big pool while he tried to swim, keeping his head above water , while crossing my fingers and praying that no water would get into his inner ear canal.

Fast forward to the beach, the second to last week of summer: To go in the waves he absolutely needed earplugs. We sat on the beach, I was thinking good thoughts (please , please). He loves the ocean, he saw it in front of him, he reminded me of a race horse wanting to run as fast as he could into the surf…

“You have to wear your earplugs, I’ve got them right here.”

“Okay.” He replied, as he sat down, criss-cross applesauce and patiently waited for me to put in his earplugs.

DONE.

Are you kidding me? It was that easy?? Then he ‘decided’ that he loves his earplugs…

And finally, on Labor Day, at the pool, he wore his safety vest, his earplugs and swam (for a few feet),

IN THE BIG POOL.

That was our last day of summer vacation.

UGH! I’m filing this away for future debates/compromises/deals/motivations/bribes .

Well, we’re definitely ready for next summer.