Where's Her Bubble?
Like a rock star, her arrival is signaled with squeals of joy. Like a paparazzi clamoring for a shot, a pose, a one or two line blurb to use for copy.
"MOMMY!!!" "MOMMY, guess what!" "MOMMY, look."
They do not tire in their quest for a moment, a glimmer of attention. It is understandable, I get this. Her busy schedule keeps her away from the house more than she would care to admit. It's the nature of her job. And quite frankly, I'm sure the kids tire of my constant badgering--Stop that!, No!, Get that out of your mouth!, Do not hit your sister!, No, you may not put the cat in the dryer!, I don't care if he's wet, I said no!, And don't even think of using Mommy's good......towels! Ugh!!
I could go on.
Yesterday, we went to the pool. Maura met us there after her shift. The kids went ape crazy in an effort to display the fruits of their labor having toiled at the pool countless hours this summer. Shout's of, "Mommy, watch this!" and "Mommy, Look! Look at me !!" echoed throughout the pool deck. With pride, we took it all in from our lounges near the shallow end of the pool. Then Zia offered.....
"Mommy. Do you want to see my most spectacular (she actually used that word) jump from the diving board?"
Maura: Well of course I do.
And off she scampered.
Beaming, I watched as my little girl climbed the steps to the diving board, skipped to the end, bounced twice and plopped into the water.
Maura: Isn't she supposed to be wearing her bubble?
After about a second or two, Zia's little head pops up.
Me: Yes, she has it on.
Zoe: Uhm, Dad, no she doesn't.
Me: Sure she does. (Looking towards Zia) Doesn't she?
I looked down at my feet, and sure enough Zia's bubble lay there in a heap.
I began a slow trot towards the deep end where Zia's little head was just bobbing in the water. A tiny cough. The lifeguards were standing at the board watching the scene unfold. One of them asked, "Isn't she supposed to have her bubble?"
Me: Uhm, yeah. She can't swim.
In a spit second the other guard tossed his shirt and dove in to save my now sputtering little girl.
Safely at the side of the pool I asked, "Zia, did you forget something?"
Zia: Yeah. (smiling ear to ear) Let's do that again! But this time (pointing her finger up as if to remind herself) let's use my bubble.
And she did.
Later Zane made the observation, "I've never seen the lifeguards have to jump in and save anyone......That was cool!"
"MOMMY!!!" "MOMMY, guess what!" "MOMMY, look."
They do not tire in their quest for a moment, a glimmer of attention. It is understandable, I get this. Her busy schedule keeps her away from the house more than she would care to admit. It's the nature of her job. And quite frankly, I'm sure the kids tire of my constant badgering--Stop that!, No!, Get that out of your mouth!, Do not hit your sister!, No, you may not put the cat in the dryer!, I don't care if he's wet, I said no!, And don't even think of using Mommy's good......towels! Ugh!!
I could go on.
Yesterday, we went to the pool. Maura met us there after her shift. The kids went ape crazy in an effort to display the fruits of their labor having toiled at the pool countless hours this summer. Shout's of, "Mommy, watch this!" and "Mommy, Look! Look at me !!" echoed throughout the pool deck. With pride, we took it all in from our lounges near the shallow end of the pool. Then Zia offered.....
"Mommy. Do you want to see my most spectacular (she actually used that word) jump from the diving board?"
Maura: Well of course I do.
And off she scampered.
Beaming, I watched as my little girl climbed the steps to the diving board, skipped to the end, bounced twice and plopped into the water.
Maura: Isn't she supposed to be wearing her bubble?
After about a second or two, Zia's little head pops up.
Me: Yes, she has it on.
Zoe: Uhm, Dad, no she doesn't.
Me: Sure she does. (Looking towards Zia) Doesn't she?
I looked down at my feet, and sure enough Zia's bubble lay there in a heap.
I began a slow trot towards the deep end where Zia's little head was just bobbing in the water. A tiny cough. The lifeguards were standing at the board watching the scene unfold. One of them asked, "Isn't she supposed to have her bubble?"
Me: Uhm, yeah. She can't swim.
In a spit second the other guard tossed his shirt and dove in to save my now sputtering little girl.
Safely at the side of the pool I asked, "Zia, did you forget something?"
Zia: Yeah. (smiling ear to ear) Let's do that again! But this time (pointing her finger up as if to remind herself) let's use my bubble.
And she did.
Later Zane made the observation, "I've never seen the lifeguards have to jump in and save anyone......That was cool!"
Posted by Zoe's Dad at Monday, September 01, 2008 10:11 AM and is filed under summertime fun,Pool,snatched from the jaws of death 
Were you serious about the slow trot? I would have been sprinting (then again that may actually be a slow trot. Glad everything worked out ok.
I was a lifeguard at a miltary base during the summers when I was in high school and that makes me shudder. I'll never forget the fear of not knowing if you'll get there before they go under. If you'll be able to find them in time if they do. I don't want to think about that.
I want to think about the time I made a 19yo Navy guy sit on the bench because he wouldn't stop splashing the kids. Knowing the base commanders son had benefits.
Glad she was okay, but that was priceless! "Next time let's use my bubble", LOVE it!
Did he have his shirt on and took it off before jumping in? As a director of a YMCA, I would have been mad as hell to find out he took time to take off his shirt.
(or did he just have it in his hand and tossed it aside?)
Glad to hear she's okay - and so nonchalant about it!
I've got to tell you--the lifeguards were completely on top of things. They were both standing about 10 feet from her. The thing is, Zia was treading water like a camp and didn't realize until after a few seconds---like we did---that she didn't have her bubble. She never did that flailing, sputtering, I'm drowning kind of thing. Otherwise I would have been in the water.
There's also the very real possibility that she would have swam to the side on her own--we just didn't give her the chance.
The great thing about our pool is that it's a small country club pool and hardly anyone uses it. Ninety percent of the time my five kids were the only five kids there, as was the case that day. The lifeguards all know my kids and their abilities. Those guys are like family, especially to my kids who love them!
I think he acted appropriately. Had he not, or if I felt otherwise--chances are I wouldn't have written the post.
Your pool has lifeguards?
But seriously, that's how I learned to swim. Sink or swim.
My two oldest are lifeguards at the local YMCA. They actually have jumped in to "save a sputtering child" only to be yelled at by their parents who say "why did you do that, Billy can swim".
Yeah right!
whew. like mr. springsteen says... someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.
thankfully since the lifeguards were sharp that someday is/will be a lot sooner than it could have been.