I'm a Cool Mom, For Now...

Mark this one for the record books: I have been dubbed "cool" by Averey.

I decided to take the girls to the pool last night for some last minute summer fun. Since giving birth to Jacey in June, I missed out on a few weeks of swimming, so I've been trying to squeeze in as much pool time as I can. The girls can tread water and doggie paddle, but my goal of them swimming has fallen short once again. This is a slight source of stress for me, because quite honestly, I don't remember NOT knowing how to swim. We've done swimming lessons before and I had planned to this summer, but since being busy with the new baby, it sort of fell through the cracks. I could always put them in lessons in the winter in the State College High School pool. I'll be longing for that chlorine smell then anyway since I am especially dreading winter this year...

But alas, I am way off the subject.

I can trust Averey enough to watch her sister for a few minutes while I take a leap off the diving board to get wet. It always seems I'm in the company of teenage boys when I take a dive, but I don't care. It's still a thrill for me.

I returned to the girls and we swam around to the areas where their feet couldn't touch. They followed me around, doggie paddling with their floaties on. We swam under the buoy rope (okay, I lifted the girls over), and I proved to them I couldn't touch the bottom. (Up until then, they thought I was at least seven feet tall.) I rolled around, doing underwater front and back flips.

"Wow, you are so cool mommy!" exclaimed Averey.

I told Averey I used to do front flips off the diving board, but haven't tried it in years. I told her I could go off the board again if she and Kelsey would sit on the edge of the pool.

I climbed out of the pool and got in the line for the board. I planned on just diving, but as I bounced into the air, I quickly changed my mind and rotated into a front flip. I felt the water smack my bottom, but I still did it! I felt like a teenager again. (And today, I'm not even hurting like a grown up!)

"That was so cool!" Averey said excitedly.

I know I won't being hearing that phrase during much of my parenting years. Give her a few more years and she'll be saying, "Mom, stop trying to be cool by doing flips off the diving board!" I'll treasure this moment while I can, because I forgot that I failed at teaching them to swim. And as they paddled back to the shallow end, I'm pretty sure they didn't even care.

And by the way, shortly after that, Averey jumped into the pool with no floaties on and even went under the water. She was ecstatic. And go figure I missed her moment of "cool."