Your older daughter gets invited to a pool party at a hotel down the street for one of her classmates. She's excited about it because she LOVES to swim. Your husband and younger daughter drop you and your older daughter off at the hotel and head to MIL's house so younger daughter gets to do something fun on the night her older sister is going to a party.
Your daughter starts swimming with her classmates. She can't really "swim" per se, but she loves the water, does fairly well with the doggy paddle, and can hold her own for the most part.
An hour goes by with your daughter jumping in and out of the pool while you watch her like a hawk because drowning is one of your biggest fears (for yourself or your children). Daughter continues to jump into the deeper 5-foot end, even though you tell her repeatedly not to because she can't stand at that depth and you know she can't swim nearly as well as she thinks she can.
At one point, your daughter jumps into the 5-foot end (while you're still watching her), and you see her panic when she can't get over to the edge of the pool. She's going under and bobbing back up, gasping for air, desperately trying to get to the edge. A little girl who CAN swim well, jumps into the pool to pull your daughter to the edge of the pool. You see another mother spot your daughter and whip of her sneakers, ready to do what she needs to do.
You jump up and start to run to the end of the pool where your daughter is absolutely panic-stricken. The other mother has already gotten to the edge of the pool and is trying to reach out to your daughter so she can grab her hand. Your daughter and the little girl who is trying to help her aren't close enough to grab the other mother's hand and the little girl who is trying to help your daughter isn't strong enough to pull your daughter in.
Just as you get to your daughter, the other mother jumps into the pool, fully clothed in jeans and a sweater to rescue your daughter and pull her to safety.
Yup. That would be my night tonight. [sigh]
Grace was/is fine. She was scared shitless, but once she was out of the pool, she looked at me and said, "I'm starving. Can we go eat?" LOL! I, however, felt like a total ass. Yes, of course I would've jumped in to save my daughter. And yes, the entire thing happened in the span of about 30 seconds. But the other mother was closer and jumped in before I got there. However, I couldn't help but feel like a total idiot that someone else had to save my daughter. And that the poor woman then sat there at the party in soaking wet clothing for 45 minutes while you were dry as a could be. I thanked her repeatedly... apologized repeatedly... etc. But I still felt like a total heel. I didn't know any of the other people there, which made it even worse. If it had been the mom's from her class last year, we probably would've laughed afterwards, etc. But these were all people I haven't even met yet. Lovely first impression I leave, no? Never a dull moment... [sigh]
So with that, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow's got to be better, right?
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8 comments:
That would SO happen to me.
And I would hate it as much as you did. Sorry for the sucky day :(
I would have felt just as much a heal as you did.
Glad Gracie is okay.
ugh what a night!! I would have been walking around red faced the rest of the evening lol
Even tho you feel like a heel, I bet the other mom felt really good. Maybe it's ego talking, but I guess most parents who did that to someone elses child would feel proud of what they did, ya know?
And the fact that you were enroute to jumping in too, helps. It's not like you were kicked back sipping a margarita watching it take place.
(((A))) I hope you're feeling better about things today.
I would have been you, for two major reasons. I cannot swim (and too am afraid of water) and I probably could not have gotten there quickly enough because of my limp.
Still... I would have felt badly too.
The reason why I am laughing now is because of Grace's response.
Oh Jeez, Al, I'm so sorry that happened. If it makes you feel any better, the same thing happened with Parker in a friend's pool. I was the one who freaked out and jumped in fully clothed, but the other moms then made fun of me for over reacting. So, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't! LOL!
Yep, that would be me too.
Sorry, you were red-faced, but it probably wasn't as bad as you thought.
Yep. This kinda happened with Wyatt summer before last, at the pool at out health club. I was RIGHT there, and I could see that he could touch, but was freaking OUT. I was trying to get him to be calm, and see that he could touch and get to the side...And the lifegaurd come FLYING out of nowhere, BLOWING HIS WHISTLE no less, and dives in to "save him".
This totally freaks Wyatt out, so he really thought he must have been about to die. I couldn't get him out of the baby pool for a year. lol! AND the stupid pimple-faced Lifegaurd gave me a big lecture in front of about fifty strangers.
;)
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