We all know the sweet love story in “A Walk to Remember” (2002) between Mandy Moore and Shane West (some more than others). You know, when Mandy finally gets to be in two places at one time blah blah blah. Well, today I experienced a whole different walk to remember. It was so memorable, in fact, I had to share.
After my 10 month old woke up from his morning nap I decided to be extra ambitious and take him swimming at the local community pool. Sure, the weather channel was cautioning against an impending snow storm. Our local new station repeated warnings about snowmageddon. But how often are these reports right? I’ve stayed in the houses for days on end due to weather warnings only to see a drizzle of rain or a dusting of snow.
So I loaded up my stroller with towels, pool floaties, clothes, diapers, snacks and more and embarked on a peaceful winter walk to the community pool (about 15 minutes away).
For some reason, when I first conjured up the idea of this fun, little swim, I never envisioned a parent balancing bags, towels and pool toys while holding a baby. Just getting my stuff into the change room was a feat unto itself. Then came actually getting us both stripped down and into our swim suits. Where does someone put a baby while they change themselves? The floor is clearly disgusting and sadly there weren’t any baby seats (and did I mention that I forgot my flip flops and had to go bare foot – double ew)!?
After finally making it into the pool, the reality of my ambition hit me – how long does a 10 month old really want to stay in a pool? It isn’t like he can swim after all. He can barely keep his head upright in the water. So after splishing and splashing for all of 30 minutes he was ready to bounce. Now the issue became how to shower, get changed, and pack up again, with my son in my arms? Two words: not easy.
But like most parenting conundrums, we made it through. Loading up the stroller, I realized we were only half way there. I could barely see eight feet in front of me due to a total snow white out.
Now anyone who has tried to push a stroller through snow-globe conditions knows just how awful it is. You can barely control the steering, the back wheels spit slush up the front of your pants and all four wheels tend to collect snow like little plows.
After nearly skidding backwards down a hill, running over a steaming pile of dog poop, and thumping my kid down our front stairs, we were home.
Total fricken nightmare. We were covered in what kids like to call “PACKING SNOW!!!!” and while it might be awesome for snowball fights it totally sucks when it’s weighing down every strand of your hair and has buried your baby in a mini avalanche.
At the end of it all though, was it worth it? Darn tootin’. The swim tuckered my little man out so much that he slept for over two hours giving me ample time to mop up, warm up, get dry and write a post. If I could do it every day, I would. If not for anything more than a bit of peace and quiet at the end of it all. Parenting is all about balance, right?
