Summer has hit hard and fast here in Texas. A week ago we were literally drowning with record-breaking rainfall. This week the thunderstorms and accompanying spring temperatures ended abruptly, and the temperature shot up to 100 degrees.
So what do you do in Texas when the summer temps arrive? You go swimming! If you’re going to spend any time outside at all, you want to be wet while doing it.
As I’ve blogged before, I’m now a Mom of 3 kiddos. We don’t have our own pool, so we go to the community pool in our subdivision. When we decide to go swimming, it is a MAJOR ordeal. I’m happy to take them…it’s their summer vacation, and I think it’s fun. But it’s pretty ridiculous what it takes to make it happen.
Moms, no matter how many kids you have, I bet you can identify with some of this:
45 minutes: time that it takes to pack towels, snacks, pool toys, sunscreen, hats, floaties, baby supplies…and get it all into the minivan. Bathing suits on…last call for potty.
20 minutes: time that it takes to get the kids, the stroller, the rafts/pool noodles and the everything else from the minivan into the pool area. P.S. the kids don’t help at ALL. I’m lucky if I can get them to carry a towel. P.P.S. People stare at me as I awkwardly tow everything but the kitchen sink into the pool area.
So then I lather all 3 kids and myself with sunscreen. My oldest kids are willing to wait about 2 and a half minutes for the sunscreen to dry before running away from me into the water.
The baby and I set up our poolside area. Towels on chairs, clip-on umbrellas, snacks ready, pool toys unpacked. All that STUFF that I lugged is now a fully fledged fun-in-the-sun experience.
For about 20 minutes, everyone swims and plays relatively event-free. The baby and I hang in the shady zone of the play pool until he starts to fuss for his lunch. So, I go have another of my frequent and awkward public breastfeeding sessions. It’s tricky business in a bathing suit.
10 minutes: Next the baby’s big sisters need to go to the bathroom. So baby in stroller, flip flops on for everyone and off we go. Isn’t it fun taking off and putting back on wet bathing suits?
The baby is ready for a nap, so I spent time getting him to sleep in his stroller. The kids have snacks, we reapply sunscreen and play a bit more before heading home.
30 minutes: time that it takes to get kids dry, stuff packed, baby changed, large load lugged and into the van, seat belts on…
Once we’re home, the swimming fun continues. I now have 7 towels to wash and 3 kids to bathe.
Oh I know it sounds like I’m whining, but honestly I don’t mind doing it. I love to go swimming with the kids. I just wish we could skip a few of these steps. It’s hours of prep and clean up for an hour of fun in the sun. This is just how life with little kids is… Whether it’s a trip to the Zoo, the Mall or even just heading to dance class, there are always 132 things to do/prepare/pack/remember/plan for. This is my life! It’s exhausting, but I love it.
Nicole
Moms Small Victories says
Lol, I totally feel your “pain.” I’m a mom of 3 boys and mine are old enough now they don’t need rafts but we still carry a lot of stuff. No matter how much I feed them, they want to eat as soon as we get to pool and they know mom is prepared with a cooler and extra bag of food. When they want to stay 3+ hours in 100+ degree weather, it’s essential! Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday linkup last week. Pinned to our linkup board.