I love Wednesday night swim lessons with A Bird. I enjoy watching her progress and get a lot of good water safety and time in the water. But its nights like last night that I truly love, when I get to spend some Daddy/Daughter time with A Bird. L Bird had a work banquet so it was just me and A Bird for swim lessons. We loaded up into the car, rolled the windows down, turned the radio up, and she say every song on the radio, whether she knew the words or not.
We get to the YMCA a little early, so we go in and get her swim suit on and her bubble backpack, then she goes and sits with her legs in the water in her lane of the pool to wait for the class to begin. There are four kids in her class, two other girls and a little boy. The two other little girls showed up soon after A Bird and they sat down on each side of her. They all start talking to each other and giggling. I am too far away to hear the conversation, but it was a cute scene. There are three little girls all dangling there feet into the water and gossiping and laughing at each other.
As I sat and watched them talking it really hit me how fast the past five years have gone and how much A Bird has grown up. My mind hit the fast forward button and I could see A Bird in middle school hanging out at the pool with her friends. Then it clicked through further and I imagined her in high school hanging out after school with her girlfriends lounging by the water. It made me immensely happy and incredibly sad at the same time. I am so happy that she is so outgoing and has such great social skills. She seems to build friendships wherever she goes. But I am sad at how fast time marches by, it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the hospital room holding her for the first time but now she is coming up on five years old and is doing so many things independently.
Finally class starts and the kids jump in the water and it breaks my concentration on what will be. She swims for a half an hour and class ends. She climbs out of the pool and heads to me to dry her off. We walk to the changing rooms and get the last room. I dry her off and she gets dressed as she tells me all of the things she learned from Miss Barb in the pool. Finally dressed we head out and she hits me up for a “snack” from the vending machine. It’s funny because she knows I am the sucker that will let her have something from the junk machine. When it’s both L Bird and I she never stops to ask for a snack, but if it’s just A Bird and I she hits me up every time. I let her pick some starbursts but tell her she can only have three tonight. Another father on his way out stops at the machine after me and gives me a knowing smile and a nod.
We get out to the car and get buckled in, A Bird has picked out her three starbursts and proceeds to “peel” (take the wrappers off) them. We pull out and she asks me to turn down the radio, we have a short conversation about when she grows up she is going to be a country music singer and a dancer then a song comes on by Carrie Underwood and she breaks into song midsentence. So I turn up the radio for her and she sings while I drive. The night was perfect.
My advice to everyone is to take pleasure in the small things in life, like swim lessons, fifteen minute conversations with your children, or just the quiet times together with those you love. Try not to get so caught up in the details and tasks of everyday life. Make time to do things with those you love. Time marches on for us all, and it does so at an alarming pace if you’re not paying attention. Good luck and I’ll keep trying to do the same.
We get to the YMCA a little early, so we go in and get her swim suit on and her bubble backpack, then she goes and sits with her legs in the water in her lane of the pool to wait for the class to begin. There are four kids in her class, two other girls and a little boy. The two other little girls showed up soon after A Bird and they sat down on each side of her. They all start talking to each other and giggling. I am too far away to hear the conversation, but it was a cute scene. There are three little girls all dangling there feet into the water and gossiping and laughing at each other.
As I sat and watched them talking it really hit me how fast the past five years have gone and how much A Bird has grown up. My mind hit the fast forward button and I could see A Bird in middle school hanging out at the pool with her friends. Then it clicked through further and I imagined her in high school hanging out after school with her girlfriends lounging by the water. It made me immensely happy and incredibly sad at the same time. I am so happy that she is so outgoing and has such great social skills. She seems to build friendships wherever she goes. But I am sad at how fast time marches by, it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in the hospital room holding her for the first time but now she is coming up on five years old and is doing so many things independently.
Finally class starts and the kids jump in the water and it breaks my concentration on what will be. She swims for a half an hour and class ends. She climbs out of the pool and heads to me to dry her off. We walk to the changing rooms and get the last room. I dry her off and she gets dressed as she tells me all of the things she learned from Miss Barb in the pool. Finally dressed we head out and she hits me up for a “snack” from the vending machine. It’s funny because she knows I am the sucker that will let her have something from the junk machine. When it’s both L Bird and I she never stops to ask for a snack, but if it’s just A Bird and I she hits me up every time. I let her pick some starbursts but tell her she can only have three tonight. Another father on his way out stops at the machine after me and gives me a knowing smile and a nod.
We get out to the car and get buckled in, A Bird has picked out her three starbursts and proceeds to “peel” (take the wrappers off) them. We pull out and she asks me to turn down the radio, we have a short conversation about when she grows up she is going to be a country music singer and a dancer then a song comes on by Carrie Underwood and she breaks into song midsentence. So I turn up the radio for her and she sings while I drive. The night was perfect.
My advice to everyone is to take pleasure in the small things in life, like swim lessons, fifteen minute conversations with your children, or just the quiet times together with those you love. Try not to get so caught up in the details and tasks of everyday life. Make time to do things with those you love. Time marches on for us all, and it does so at an alarming pace if you’re not paying attention. Good luck and I’ll keep trying to do the same.
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