It was a boiling hot day, seriously, we’ve had a pretty mild summer up to now, but last week decided to make us pay for all the breezy, gorgeous, nip in the air, gotta get a long sleeve t-shirt days we’ve been having, and we had no plans, it was too hot for the formulating of plans.
So I drag out the kiddy pool, strip the kids, who love nothing more than feeling a breeze in their nether regions apparently, and let them have at it with the garden hose. As I supervised in my new and very comfortable lounger on the patio, under the fan on high, trying not to dissolve in a puddle of my own sweat, I started thinking how fun all the splashing and running away from the hose wielding sibling and jumping back in the pool looked.
And yet I sat there, wishing for an air-conditioner that we don’t have because it’s never really hot enough here to warrant one, looking wistfully at the cool mist from the sprayer attachment on the hose. The Husband and I blithely continued typing on our computers, wiping our foreheads, and sipping water like our lives depended on it.
Finally, a nagging thought started forming in my slow and addled brain… gosh, the water looks refreshing, why can’t I go play in it too? No, really, why can’t I?? And so, struck by sudden inspiration I high-tailed it upstairs got in a bathing suit and quite literally jumped into the pool, screeching like a little girl. The kids thought it was the most exciting thing to ever happen to them, hosing down mama with abandon, and everybody was cooler, happier and more relaxed.
How sad that sometimes we get stuck in our mental roles as parents and adults and forget how thrilling simply splashing in a puddle sized inflatable pool can be, and how quickly the long hours of a hot morning go by when you’re sitting under the cooling “rain” of a garden hose. How liberating to let go of our roles as disciplinarians, educators and comforters and dump a bucketful of cold water on our three year old, just because it’s funny.
We had such a good time that the whole experience was repeated after naptime. So, memo to me: sometimes it’s good to just let go a stop being such a grownup all the time, cause acting like a kid is fun, and we all need a little more of that in our lives, don’t we?
