Pool Daze – New Life Consulting

Summer is finally here! Puffy white cloud days are my favorite! And we’ve been fortunate to be having several of them so far this summer! We’ve been swimming nearly every day since we opened our pool. We’ve had friends over to splash around with us, too. I’m very diligent about managing kids in the pool and though I don’t count heads like my mom used to (and still does at the lake, or parking lot or anywhere!) But I have this mom-sense, that I just can tell where my kids are. I use all my senses – I obviously watch them with my eyes, but when you have four and you’re in the pool helping the youngest stay afloat you can’t always watch them from a lifeguard chair so I also heavily rely on my hearing and listen for them to splash, come to the surface and breathe. If one slips out of the pool and disappears for a moment, I usually know that they’re behind the bush taking a pool potty break – an advantage of all boyz and a private backyard! But I still ask them to tell me where they’re going so I can keep them on my mom-sense radar.

The other day, I needed everyone to get out to take a potty break and Kiefer just quips, “Why don’t you go potty over there?” I had to explain that Mommy’s don’t go potty by a bush unless we have to!

Anytime we get out of the pool, for a potty break or our favorite, an ice cream break! I always make everyone get out and sit on the deck. When Carter and Kiefer were little, I’d close the pool every time we got out. But I’ve relaxed a bit and try to rely on them to help me shepherd the little ones and keep them on the deck while I go inside.

Well, Tuesday was one of those terrifying, spit second, “Oh My Gosh!” moments! I’d been inside passing out ice cream treats to the little hands through the kitchen “ice cream shop” window, as is our custom. They were all on the deck enjoying their treats, as is their custom! I joined them and we sat on the deck to get a little sun. When they were ready to get back in the pool, I said “Just a second” and went inside the kitchen to throw the trash away. Literally TWO SECONDS later I came outside and saw three of my four boyz near the edge of the pool and Fletcher was bobbing up to his eyeballs right off the steps of the pool with this look of panic as his mouth and nose were under the water. It’s a moment I’ve had nightmares about! I started screaming, “Help him! Help him! He needs help” I think because the other boys were closer to him that I was, but I wasn’t really expecting them to help him. I then proceeded to try to walk on water to reach him and I ran into the shallow end of the pool, torquing my right ankle as I hit the bottom. I got to him in a splash and lifted him up and he was fine, thankfully! I exhaled and said out loud, “Thank you, God!” And I’ve been thanking God every minute since.

It only takes a second. But we all learned a valuable lesson. I need to continue to be diligent about closing the pool when I go inside and Fearless Fletcher learned that he only knows how to swim when he has his life jacket on. (I also learned not to take it off when we have our ice cream breaks!) I talked to them all about the gravity of that moment and it’s one I hope we never forget, though I wish I could erase that haunting visual from my mind.

Now the remaining pool days that we have will be an even heightened mom-sense.

Griffin Doodle in the pool (or poodle?!)