There are some things that take bravery, patience, stamina, and a positive mental attitude (PMA). I had decided yesterday that I was going to take all four kids to the pool this afternoon, by myself. Now that Chance, Quinn and Darby can all swim very well, and Julius is well on his way, I really wasn’t that worried about it. But I still spent the day getting my PMA on, in preparation for what was to come.

When we arrived, everyone but Julius had their togs on, but Jules got so excited that he just made a beeline for the pool, with me hot on his heels, and jumped in, clothes and all. When he came up spluttering, the look on his face suggested he was thinking something along the lines of “oh yeah, I can’t really swim properly yet and why am I still in my clothes?”

Not exactly the start I was hoping for. I was starting to wonder if I had made a huge mistake. I fished him out of the pool and gave him a talking to, and he said “I’m so sorry Mama”. I couldn’t be mad at that! I took some breaths, got him changed and we all got in together. As the minutes slowly ticked by, I started to feel a bit better, and was able to keep an eye on the older three, and a hand on Julius.

And can I tell you, something kind of unexpected happened. I had fun 🙂 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Parenting is a hard slog, with not much thanks. But, as Ron Swanson once said, If you choose a thankless job, you can’t be upset when nobody thanks you. The thanks is in the fun we have, and in the good behaviour our kids display in public. I got that today. And it gave me a huge boost, knowing I am capable of one more thing that perhaps I thought was a little out of reach.

For this, and other reasons I will share soon enough, today was a good day.