Just Keep Swimming, Swimming, Swimming

My mom is, by far, one of the most kind-hearted, caring, and patient people I’ve ever met. She worries about things a little more than she should sometimes, but she’s very good at working through obstacles and never blows anything out of proportion.

With that said, there have been many instances where Eric and I have done things that would cause any level-headed parent to have a conniption. This is one of those cases.

We used to belong to a public pool that we were introduced to by other family members. I’d say Eric was about 7 and I was 9 at the time. Anyway, like most public pools, this one was separated into two sections: the shallow end, and the deep end.

Naturally, my dad kept Eric in the shallow end and stayed in the pool with him while he swam. My mom rarely got in. She wears sweaters and jackets in 80 degree weather, so the pool water was entirely too cold for her.

One day, we were at the pool with some of our other family and friends and, for whatever reason, my dad had to get out for a minute. We didn’t think anything of it because Eric usually just stayed in the same spot anyway and bobbed up and down in the water.

In almost a split second, my mom noticed him swimming toward the deep end, which he had never been in before. She jumped up from her colorful beach chair and ran frantically to the pool to get him back in the shallow end.

I thought she was going to have a heart attack, especially when the lifeguards didn’t immediately jump in to get him. When she finally got her bearings back, she was able to notice the laughter and giddy smile on Eric’s face while he was calmly treading water in the 8-foot deep end.

From then on Eric didn’t like to swim in the shallow end. He developed a new habit of swimming down to the bottom of the deep end and back up, then bobbing up and down, sometimes staying under longer than normal.

From time to time, this gave my mom a mini meltdown until she remembered that he was just having fun. But he’s her son. Who can blame her?

It’s miraculous how easily Eric learned to swim, though. He was never actually taught how to tread water (mostly because no one ever thought he’d venture into the deep end spontaneously); he just did it by himself.

And that was the last time my mom was near hysteria because of something Eric and I did….

Just kidding.