A few days ago, I made plans to take Taylor to a children’s wading pool about a 10-minute drive from our home. We were going to meet other moms with their little kiddos there, too. I was so excited!! I thought Taylor would absolutely LOVE the water. And I was really looking forward to spending some good, fun, and memorable time with her. I envisioned a frolicking Taylor – wet, happy, and so glad to have a mom who takes her to the wading pool. I couldn’t wait to see her face when she saw all the fun she could have in the water!
Well, you can probably guess that my daydream never came to pass, so I’ll explain what happened. I got up early, before the girls woke up, to get myself ready (it takes me all of about 10 or 15 minutes in the morning – my family is probably gasping right now, since it used to take me an hour or even longer to get ready when I was a teenager). After the girls woke up, I made the bed, fed Emma, made breakfast, washed the dishes, put Emma down for a nap, and then set to work getting Taylor ready for the pool. I lathered her up with sunscreen and put on her new bathing suit as well as her shorts, shirt, socks, and shoes, all while she was complaining, wiggling, and making the work take longer than it needed to. We got into the car and drove all around our village, trying to find a way out, as so many of the streets were blocked due to road construction, including one of the two ways out of the village! We finally found a way out and went a very loooooooong way around to the pool (because of the construction) – taking almost 30 minutes to get there.
We paid the entrance fee and went inside to a summer wonderland of pools, slides, grass, trees, a playground, and the wading pool. As I took off Taylor’s shoes and socks to go into the wading pool, she began to say, “No” over and over very stubbornly. I could not talk her into even touching the water! I couldn’t believe it! The girl who cries when we have to take her pruny body out of the bathtub did not want to go into a wading pool! I have to admit, I was a bit heartbroken. The fun I had envisioned splashing around with her (I had even squeezed my post-pregnancy body into my swimsuit – all for the sake of my daughter) were not to come to fruition that morning. My hopes were dashed and I was surprised that it affected me so much (I’m sure it has something to do with post-partum weirdness).
Anyways, we found something she enjoyed doing – riding this bouncy motorcycle thing, which she thought was a skunk. I kept telling her it was a motorcycle, but there was no convincing her. So that morning it was a skunk. And I realigned my attitude, too, knowing that toddler timidity is okay and I needed to just have fun doing what Taylor thought was fun. I’m sure my parents had to learn to enjoy the things I enjoyed while I was growing up. Certainly we could have a fun morning together, even if we didn’t go into the water. And even if we had to spend all our time riding a red skunk!
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Hey, Jennifer! 