Dear Lils,
When one is a parent to a ‘spirited’ kid there are times making a commitment to any class of any sort – music, dance, library, gym, etc. can be a perfect fit or a total disaster. Often the latter.
You and I needed something to do one day of the week together and someone told me about a great swimming class for kids at the Y. So we went for it.
When we signed up the guy at the front desk told us we could “make up” some days blah blah blah. When you and I took a tour of the pool the first question you asked was….”but where’s the make up?” – lipstick, etc.
Some parts of your current personality crack me up now. Such as a fascination with make up, fluffy pink skirts, dresses, etc. You certainly did not get this from me. I put on some lipstick and blush and barely blow dry my hair on the average day. You are often the more ‘put together’ one of the two of us.
It turned out the pool was EVERYTHING YOU DREAMED OF. You LOVED it. You loved everything about the “YMZA” as you called it. Here is what you loved most:
-That you got your own YMCA card
-That someone took a picture of you
-That you got a ‘cubby’ to your own in the locker room
-That you could get nude and put on a pretty pink flower bathing suit
-That you wore a little cap although you wised it were pink or purple
-That we each got our own towels
-That people brought little ‘products’ and shampoo bottles to the shower
-That you had a “teacher” because anything that resembles school is AWESOME and anything with a teacher is SO COOL
-That the teacher had rubber ducks, noodles, purple floating rings to toss, inflatable balls and other toys to incorporate in swim class
-That we could then blow dry our hair in front of a full sized mirror…what could be better…
All the other kids in the class were these buddha chunker babies and toddlers with tons of rolls of fat on each leg. Because you are a skinny little lean string bean your lips turned literally blue/purple and you were shivering in the water. The lifeguard asked us to get out three different times to warm up because it was really bad. But it did not damper our spirits as we both were so excited to be together and have this fun little adventure.
My favorite point was on our third time out when I suggested we maybe head back to the locker room despite class not being over you said through chattering teeth:
L: It’s ok Mom…after I warm up in this towel for a few more minutes I can jump back in and play with that noodle
That’s my girl!
So…I’ve been on the hunt for a wetsuit for you to wear in the pool. I finally tracked one down that wasn’t $110. Ordered it and today – 2 days before your lesson I got an email it’s on back order until ten years from now. BUMMER.
I posted a message on the Mom message board locally to see if by a long shot someone had an old one to sell and viola! Only bummer is it’s lime green. Knowing this could be a major problem I finally broke the news to you. Your reaction – wasn’t pretty.
I don’t know what it will take for me to wrangle you into a lime green wetsuit Lili come Wednesday (gummy bears? whip cream? chap stick?) but oh my. It will have to be done.
After all I am your Mama. I have to protect you. And I will.
