Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Suck it up, suck it in

Teena has been taking swimming classes at our YMCA for several months now. She loves it, she loves water, she loves a bath, she loves the pool. Love, love love. This week was the last in this rotation of classes and wouldn't you know, as an extra special treat for the parents, parents get to go in the pool with their kids. Woo. Hoo.

Now I know we have already established that I am extremely hair-removal impaired. So, just the suggestion of getting out a bathing suit sends me in to a panic attack. Then, as is historically required for Women of the North, you know, a person gains a few when the temperature is nothing or less. Temps lower than zero degree's would be illegal in my perfect world, but it is really unfair that the frigid cold forces a persons body into triggering some weird hibernation mechanism from a million years ago and creates an extra load of weight apparently designed to sit just exactly over the rim of a persons jeans. Okay, I made all that up but it sounded like a great excuse to cover for all my cookie eating these past few months.

I have two bathing suits. I bought them both about a year after having Teena when I realized that no bathing suit would ever be my friend again. They are "tank-ini's", which is a cutesy thing to call a one- piece suit cut in half, and they both have matching skirts- just in case. Oh yeah and, neither one has ever been wet, although they both have visited many forms of water. See I love to go to the beach and I love to go to the pool. Nowhere in that sentence does it say I love to go in the water because I don't.

As much as I didn't want to, I knew this was one of those things I was going to have to suck up. I have dreaded it all week. Not only do I not care for swimming but I really don't care for a bunch of 5 year olds splashing around and getting me wet. Ugh. Then with the shaving, and the sucking it in and my personal changing room phobias. But it also was one of those things, Teena would never forgive me if I forgot or blew it off, and Teena would remember it the rest of her life if I went in the pool with her during her little class. I knew she would love it even more than cake.

Today was the last day of the class so I knew that this was it. We missed the last parent day because we were on vacation but this time, there was no excuse. I tend to mess up things like this, I forget to write it down or I write it down and forget to look so I even went out to the pool and asked for confirmation. Indeed, today was the day. All right. Stripped off my clothes and stuffed my dignity into a half sized locker. Sucked in the marshmallow that lives over my waistband and went out with Teena, who was indeed beside herself with excitement.

I was the only one. I was the only parent who remembered and the only parent who sucked it up and went in the pool. ARGHHHH!!!

26 comments:

  1. Thanks for giggles.
    You weren't the only mom that remembered....you were the only mom brave enough to do it. :)
    Super Mom!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ugh! I HATE that! I hate everything about it! But at least now you've got something you can bring up whenever she doesn't want to do something. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now EVERYONE will remember the year Teena's mom went in the pool! I actually giggled out loud about this. Sorry. But I know exactly how you feel about the no swimming thing. I don't even own a swimsuit because then I would have the option. I hate hate hate going in water and I too am impaired with hair removal. I've always wondered how women learn these things. Did my mom forget to teach me that part? I still don't know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with Linda B, everyone's kids will remember Teena's cool mom who went.

    I'm allergic to chlorine. Lucky me. hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think I'd have to throw the other parents in the pool...bathing suit or not! >:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, I gotta go with Lisa. You know they had their suits in a bag, they just chickened out...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree - you're not the only one to remember... you're the only one that was awesome.

    Last week was watch week at my daughters dance class. The stupid teacher made the moms come on the floor at the end and learn part of the recital dance with our four year olds. In a room covered with mirrors and dads and grandparents standing behind us video taping. Every other mom got up to do it, I couldn't leave my kid hanging. Now I wonder how many of those cameras have my giant behind multiplied infinate times by the wall mirrors dancing like a white girl with my daughter. I hope I never have to see anyones copy.
    Note to self: Do not befriend any of the dance class moms on facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think they chickened out too, we are some brave mama's we have to be to survive and now you can remind t when she is old and blaming you for x.y and z and you can I say " I was the only mama who went swimming!"

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love swimming... can't stand the humiliation of a bathing suit. But what's a mom to do? Maybe you should rethink the hair removal? It might be a nice distraction from the arm flags... at least in my case.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bravo to you for being the only mom willing to do it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL---laughing with you, not at you!

    This is something that would happen to me!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Brava for you. I just recently took the plunge and bought a swimsuit so we can set up our pool this summer. Gah, I am soooo not looking forward to having to "swim" with the kids every day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The other parents tried to pretend they forgot but they were all bad actresses. "Oh. I didn't even know. Oops. Oh well". Yeah right!

    Amy thanks for the heads up, Genea has her last dance class tonite and it is parent observation night. I never even thought of being forced to participate in that!!!! I think I will go in limping, that should do it LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  14. But just think how much more special it is to her since you were the only one! I bet she was BESIDE herself!

    Yeah, I was a dumb kid. A really good Catholic, there was no way I was wearing a bikini!!! I mean, come on, that was like wearing your underwear! Not decent. Nope. (envision prim voice). So I decided not to until I got married.

    Problem here: Now I'm married and there's no way anyone wants to see me in a bikini. Grrrr. Stupid life choices :P

    Also, what happened to TTT? Did I count wrong? I kept checking all day yesterday ... *refresh* ... *refresh* ... *refresh* ...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Teena will remember, and that's all that matters. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. funny post..i am hair removal impaired also

    ReplyDelete
  17. That's too funny....but I would have rejoiced!!! Especially because it isn't the little kids I wouldn't want seeing me in a swimsuit, but the other moms (who would undoubtedly be, were this me, blonde, tall, long-legged and in perfect shape).

    ReplyDelete
  18. You are indeed a very, very brave mommy!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I remember those "Mommy and Me" swim sessions about the same way they are happening to you....but I have to say that my daughter (now 11 years old) STILL remembers that I was in the pool. She won't remember how horrid I looked, how I couldn't talk because I was sucking in my belly, or how much I tried to keep the other rugrats from getting my hair wet! But she remembers the effort.
    You are a great mom...love the blog!


    https://www.oldtweener.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I needed that laugh tonight! I am the same way, love to visit bodies of water, hate getting wet...mostly, hate being splashed in the face, or having kids hang all over me, so I never get in.

    If I'd been one of those parents, I would have thought, "good for that mom, she loves her daughter enough to not care what everyone thinks."

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh shit! I totally forgot about TTT! Woops! I will do one up next week instead. Suggestions?

    Yeah, I love to be by the water, I really do. The sound of the ocean, walking in the waves. But that's it! Keep me and my stuff dry thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yes! I too was wondering what happened to TTT. Even though I'm a spotty participater (I need prep time and warning on the topics!) I do look forward to it.

    And I bet you being the only mom earned you an extra gold star or something in Teena's estimation of you.

    Our YMCA has family swim on Sunday afternoons and my kids always want to go. But, they have this dumb rule that "family swim" as opposed to "free swim" requires a parent to actually be IN THE WATER. So...I put on my bathing suit, wrap in a towel, sit on the edge with my feet dangling and read my book. Works 9/10 times. I hate swimming too, and my kids think that's lame. The 1/10 times it doesn't work, it's not because of the lifeguard making me get in, it's the kids.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Essie, you KNOW how I count on these things! Just kidding. I came to your blog and saw you had commented on your last post, so I figured you were alive! :-)

    Hmmm, TTT...how 'bout the worst (best?) secret we ever kept from our parents. As in, they still don't know about it. And hopefully don't read our blogs. *cough* Worst date stories? How we deal with the most annoying habit of our significant others (and hopefully they don't read our blogs, either :P )? "Things I wish someone had told me before getting married"?

    I don't know, I'm bad at coming up with topics. This is why I come to you! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  24. ha ha ha ha ha snort ha ha ha ha ha No, I'm not laughing at you...just with you...ok, ok i'm laughing at you. I am so relieved things like this happen to someone else, too.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! If you agree or disagree, comment away! However if you are a butthead about it, you may be excised.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...