The Best of Summer Times

Jordan and Jamie have been water babies since birth. From backyard sprinklers and slip ‘n slides to the Gulf of Mexico to our neighborhood clubhouse pool, they have lived in sunscreen and bathing suits since before their first birthdays.

Swimming 101

For the past six summers, Jim and I have been blessed to spend every day with Jordan and Jamie, May through August. While we manage to squeeze trips into the zoo and a summer blockbuster here and there, the majority of our time is spent at our clubhouse pool.

When they were younger, even though their friends were already in the pool, Jordan and Jamie always wanted me and Jim with them. We would spend hours playing catch, tossing coins to dive for, and of course teaching them first to float and then to swim. Once the safety basics were mastered, all their friends then joined them jumping off the sides of the pool and sharing their techniques for best dives and stunts.

As both kids were exposed to water at such a young age, they took to instruction quickly and have been able to swim well for the last three summers. And as luck would have it, for the past two summers Jim and I have actually been able to read poolside while Jordan and Jamie played without our moment-to-moment supervision.

This year marked the first summer Jordan reached the magical age of twelve, and after passing the clubhouse swim test is now allowed admittance to the pool without being accompanied by an adult. I already felt time was going by too fast when I was able to read entire books on my afternoon visits to the pool, but now my presence isn’t even required for one of my children to swim.

The Pool Crew

Happily, both the muppets still enjoy our company at the pool, and are constantly bringing friends over to introduce them, and continue to invite us to join in on games of catch and request our judging skills to select the most creative dives off the side of the pool.

And if Mother Nature stays on our side, we will have at least forty-two sunny and warm days left to swim before the kids have to put their real clothes on and head back to their classrooms. Where is the time going?