For the long weekend, we escaped up to cottage country. I was ordered by Emily to stay away from the computer, and actually spend several days relaxing. For the guy who once had trouble waking up for his first period class in Grade 12, you wouldn’t think I’d need such an order. Things have changed, because I’ve definitely needed a vacation for a long time.
I’ve been looking forward to this vacation, but not just for the chance to relax or even to catch up with our families (we invited our parents and siblings along). I was excited about swimming in the lake. Well, I wasn’t that excited about myself swimming in the lake, but rather the chance for both my boys to venture into the body of water.
This isn’t a blog about pets, so I won’t focus too much on Summit. Except that he does seem to have a new favourite hobby of “go swim out to the toys that got chucked into the lake.” I was one proud pet parent when my lifejacket wearing dog was swimming all around our section of the lake after only being petrified of not touching the ground a day before.
As for Everett, this would be his second foray in a lake. Emily took him to the beach this summer, and the experience left him in tears. Emily was hoping he had not been traumatized by the experience, and would enjoy his first time in his baby lifejacket. As I’ve said before, Everett absolutely loves bath time. He has also spent several afternoons in a kiddie pool. He has become an expert splasher, and is often wildly kicking for joy while sitting in his pool or tub. It was just the challenge of getting him used to being in a much larger and more natural pool, while also getting used to floating.
It seems nature was on our side, because the first day at the lake we had the sun out in full force. Of course, this meant I completely lathered my son in sunscreen and accidentally protected his swim wear from the sun too. The good thing was that the water would be relatively warm, and hopefully, make it a more enjoyable experience than his first time at the beach.
Okay, I’ve been building it up enough. I’ll let you know what Everett’s first response was when I brought him in the water with me. He shivered. Just for half a second. Then he stared at me, and tried to figure out why I felt the need to put him in here. Then he constantly hammered his fist into the water. His face turned super serious, and he really focused on his hand slapping that water. This slapping business needed his full concentration. He then started hitting the water harder and faster, and then he started to use his second hand. His legs started to kick under the water, and his body soon become a giant machine focused on splashing water.
Then he turned to me, and gave me a massive smile.
His first adventure in the lake at the cottage was a success. Later on, Emily suited him in his lifejacket, and we allowed him to float for bit. He didn’t seem to think this was as thrilling as splashing the water. He didn’t burst into tears either. He was willing to spend a rather long time in the lake.
The long weekend was step one in my attempt to turn my son into a future Olympic gold medalist. Or at least, someone who doesn’t sit on the dock and cower when someone suggests going for a swim.
Actually, based off this experience, he’ll probably be the person who splashes water at the cowering individuals. He would have gotten that from his mother, of course.
