>Bad Mommy, Part 1
>I went to the YMCA pool today with my playgroup and one of my friend’s three-year-old kids got the whistle blown at her by a lifeguard for going backward down the kiddie slide.
“Did you hear what the lifeguard said to me?” my friend whispered shortly afterward.
“No, what?” I asked.
“She said that I’m supposed to stay within arm’s length of Maggie at all times!”
“Whatever,” I said. “I mean, that’s what the water wings are for. Hello!”
“I know!” she said. “Did I just waste a dollar-eighty-seven or what?!”
>Well, an arm’s length can be defined broadly. Such as, the length that ElastiGirl can stretch her arms in “The Incredibles.” Which means you’re still good for sitting in a lounge chair while the kidlets swim.
>Um…isn’t that what a lifeguard is for? Sheesh.
>Wow, how annoying is that? I was a nanny for a while and whenever I’d take the kids to the park, I felt like the other moms were giving me the evil eye for sitting on the park bench instead of hovering around the kids constantly. Let kids play on their own, for crying out loud!
>Even the packaging those floaties come in tell you one should keep the child an arms length away at most. No wonder being a SAHM is SO easy for you. You can blog all day, sit at the pool not taking care of your kids. Must be nice.
>Hmmm… I hate to admit it but anonymous might be right with the water wings thing……
>It was a joke, people. We were joking. And joking aside, I’m personally paranoid about small children in the water because we have dear friends whose three-year-old daughter drowned and I am absolutely changed to my core after watching them go through that. So rest assured that all of our preschoolers were being closely watched in their 2 feet of water by 4 moms and three lifeguards, one of whom stood with floatation device in hand, ready to jump into that water at a moment’s notice.But yes, anonymous, it was nice, even chasing after my daughter for an hour, getting sprayed smack in the eyes by water cannons and going down the kiddie slide with her 20 times in a row. It was work, but it sure didn’t feel like it. And later, it was also fun to blog about it.
>Haha, you rule, Lindsay.I really, really hate to admit this… but I had a dream about you. I had a dream you were having a contest to pick out the perfect nanny for Punky, and I was one of the contestants. You were wearing a ball gown and I totally thought I was going to win because (hello) I was the cutest and smartest one in the group. But then I lost and I found myself wandering around a ghetto high school parking lot. Uh, anyway.. (oh and btw, I am a girl. Jon is my boyfriend. I sneak onto his computer when he’s at work because it’s faster than mine, hehe.)
>Dang woman, my kids water wings were only $.97 at Big Lots… What? Not only do you have the EASY life, but you also have a whole dollar more to spend on water wings??? Life must be soooooo good. 🙂
>What YMCA? My son was lifeguarding today and didn’t mention seeing you.
>As a step mom, please go see my blog and the posting under die stiefmutter (German for step mother) and offer your wisdom, please.
>Phew. For a second, I had a picture in my mind of Punky wearing water wings, bobbing up and down under the diving board by herself.I guess that’s the paranoid Mom coming out in ME.:)
>Me, I’m just impressed that your friend’s three-year-old went down the kiddie slide by herself. My three-year-old screams bloody murder at the mere suggestion of going down the slide into the water.
>You don’t know me but I have seen you with your kids when you’re out (I live in your area) and I’m sure this was a joke. You people have nothing to worry about.
>LOL…great one!
>Not to mention that’s what lifeguards are for. Duh. She wasn’t a very smart lifeguard, was she?
>long time lurker here just had to say that i wonder sometimes if people like anonymous would get it even if you put them in brackets and said WORDS IN BRACKETS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY. jeez
>Anonymous needs to go buy herself a sense of humor. Clearly, she’s a bitter mommy.
>Hey, another hardy Amen on the water wings. Heck, she can even go in the deep end with those puppies on. With enough people at the pool, you can’t even tell she’s only three and can’t swim. This way I can complete lots more knitting projects and the kid is plum tuckered out by the end! 😀
>(rolls eyes) Our local pool came to us and asked if my almost 4 year old would be interested in joining their swim team. He’s strong and a natural swimmer.But… I still have to be arms length away from him in 2 feet of water for another 3 years.
>hah! you sound like me with my friends. and anon sounds like the mommy in the corner with no friends!
>Guess what Hubs bought while I was in S.F? WATER WINGS! Woo hoo! Now I can sit by the pool and blog all day while Punky “swims!”