Underachiever

As soon as we become Moms, we quickly figure out that we're not always going to look, feel, or be 100% put together.  Even if we felt that way pre-baby (thank goodness I didn't - I think this helped me smoothly transition to full acceptance of this fact once the kiddos came along).  We also quickly realize that there are a lot of things out of our control, and we can only make do with what we're given (i.e., the little personalities that come with our children).

For some things, however, we assume things will come easy.  We may not even realize we've made such a rookie mistake until we figure out that these things aren't easy. Or natural.  And for some of us unfortunate suckers, we may have even maintained some pride in certain ideas.  But, as is typical with pride, we're quickly brought down to earth and humbled at unexpected times and in unexpected ways.

That happened to me last Saturday.  We finally got Henry signed up for swim lessons. 

 

We meant to get him signed up at the beginning of the summer, but we looked up and realized it was mid-July before we even got around to researching it (prime example of me not having it all together). Whoops!  I didn't think too much about it - Henry isn't two until October, so we can't be that far behind in getting him signed up, right?!? WRONG! Henry was not only the oldest child in his class (by six months), he was also the farthest behind.  And by farthest behind, he was the only child who had no concept about holding his breath (despite several conversations on this topic with Mom and Dad at the neighborhood pool) or listening to the instructor. 

 Here, the child could have cared less about learning to hold his breath - he was so focused on going down the big kid slide on the other side of the pool (not in the picture).

I was mortified - I'm not exactly sure why, but it was the first time I've gotten that panicky/underachieving/anxious feeling you read about Moms getting when they figure out their kids are behind. And I was TOTALLY not ready for it.  I think I'm prepared for it in some aspects of my children's lives, but I didn't expect it in the athletic department.  Paul and I are pretty athletic, and tend to hold our own in most sports (golf is the one outlier for me).  I always assumed our kids would be the same way, so I never prepared myself for having the one kid who was acting out/whining/incapable of doing what the other kids did physically.  When Henry thought about going under water, he was choking/sputtering/whining.  When the 10-month-old next to him

wanted to go under water, she did. For EIGHT seconds! Ugh.

Needless to say, this experience was a good reminder that everything is not a competition.  Because of the eczema gene in this family, I have no high hopes for being the mother to the next Michael Phelps - our skin does not enjoy being in the water that much!  The entire reason we signed up was for safety reasons. I have a daredevil child that loves water - probably a good plan to teach him how to swim! :)  I am happy to report that during his second lesson today, he didn't whine AND he held his breath under water. Kids are full of surprises, aren't they?

And in case you were wondering, the natural mid-morning activity after swim lessons is to fetch the mop bucket and climb in it. Clearly.