The Hill

Sunday.

Sunday is swimming day.

Do you want to know how much I like to take her to swimming? Not very much. I would much rather drag her to a doctor's office to get a needle than to take her swimming. It's a small indoor pool with a lot of noisy kids that's not designed to be a place to teach a bunch of noisy kids to swim. then you have to wrangle a wet wiggly kid out of wet clothes and into dry clothes which is a struggle because the floor is soaking wet so your dry clothes become wet clothes anyway so what's the point?

Let's look at the numbers:

Swimming is from 10am to 1030am

At 9am I have to start getting her ready. "Okay, put down the tablet and let's do this" I say. Crickets - I get ignored.

I go upstairs and get her swimsuit and towel and goggles and remind her that this needs to happen. Ignored once again.

We need to take a snack because it's 12 minutes in the car and 12 minutes back so of course we can't go without food and drink at the ready. Still no response.

Then the empty threats and whining begin as I take away the tablet and try to get her into a swimsuit so when I get her there she can kick off her sandals and she's ready. It was 80+ degrees today so this was more than doable.

She wants to wear clothes over her swimsuit. I tell her we don't need clothes as I have them in the bag ready for after swimming and it's warm out so she will be fine in just the swimsuit she does not need clothes.

She comes down with a soccer jersey and shorts over her swimsuit.

Okay whatever. Let's GO!

Then we get outside and she finds the paw patrol ball in the driveway. This is suddenly the best ball ever and must be bounced and played with right here and right now instead of getting into the car so - you know - we can go swimming!

Of course, now we're running late. Not late, but not early either. We talk about whatever a 5 year old wants to talk about and then we're there. We go into the hot steamy pool area where my glasses instantly fog up and I can't see at all as I try to remove the unneeded soccer jersey and shorts from over the swimsuit and try to get sandals off a very distracted five year old who in no way is assisting with this task.

10:00 am. She starts the lesson.

10:30 am. She finishes the lesson. She still has no idea how to swim.

We go into the change room and she's wet and cold and tired. And distracted because there's now other cold and tired and distracted kids to watch too so she's not paying a bit of attention to me and all her attention is on the action int eh room.

The parents meanwhile are singing a chorus of "don't do that" "lift your arms" and "don't put your underpants in the puddle" to a room full of distracted, wet and tired charges.

Simply put, it's chaotic.

Then I hear the 4 dreaded words: "I have to pee"

I mean really. Couldn't you just pee in the pool like all the other kids? Of course the only bathroom available is occupied so we have to wait until all the other parents and kids have left and wait for the last parent to finish using the one and only bathroom as a private change room.

She pees.

On the way home she mentions she wants to go to the park. "We shall see" , I reply.

We get back in the car and drive home where we're greeted by the magical basketball again in the driveway so she's off playing with that as it's the best thing she's ever seen while empty out all the wet backpack and snack shrapnel that's remained the car.

11:00am, I sit down in a chair.

It's taken 2 hours start to finish for about a 25 minute swim lesson.

Later in the afternoon after lunch we did end up going to the park and BW was feeling well enough to tag along - which was nice. We went to the "good park" as opposed to our little park around the corner which consists of a slide and swing set.

This bigger park has the foam floor and things to climb and slide down and noise makers to make "music" with and even a big swaying boat which I have to say is pretty cool for a public park.

Also, it was empty there - which was nice. It was a gorgeous day out so I I don't know where all the others were but we had the park entirely to ourselves.

But the big attraction was the hill. I have no idea why there is a hill here because in the summer I don't see any use for it and in the winter the city has signs posted about using at your own risk but of course that gets ignored because it's one of the better places to go sledding here.

Anyway, she is enamored by the hill.

So we climb the hill. She forgets or does not realize that I get mistaken for her grandfather often and that my hill climbing days are far behind me. No matter the direction I am going on the hill - I will feel it. I am so over the hill.

"Come on, Dad".

I climb up that hill.

Then we look out at the "view" of the basketball court and the rooftop of the local library and are awestruck by the view of suburbia.

Then she rolls down the hill.

The hill has been conquered for another day. She looks like a Tide commercial with the grass stains but we have a washing machine - so whatever.

A day at the park after a week we've had was a welcome respite from the trials and tribulations of our daily life.

To celebrate we all went for ice cream at the local ice cream joint because with the week we've had we all deserved it.

Next Sunday BW can take her swimming. That can be her hill to climb.