Our Date

She looked so beautiful.  My daughter.  Splashing in the water.  Her eyes sparkling, her smile wide and bright and her giggles infectious.  We were in a pool with a kazillion other kids and parents, but it felt like we were in a happy little water bubble together. 

Today the babe and I went on our first mother-daughter swimming date.  Just her and I.  I thought we needed something special to do that we could look forward to every weekend.  I wanted to plan something we could do together that was fun, active and easy.  While we have sporadically gone on dates in the past, I have not been good about ensuring they occur with any regularity.  And they certainly haven't been anything as cool as swimming.

There is an amazing indoor public pool in our neighborhood and I have only taken advantage of it once (with the little guy).  It has been a long time since the babe and I swam together and I want to teach her to love and respect the water.  I grew up in the pool and have always felt at home in the water.  And watching the babe today it was clear that she is ready to embrace it as well. She kept kicking, moving her arms and copying the other kids who were swimming without their parent's help.  She was brave and dunked her head under the surface numerous times.  It scared the you know what out of her but she did it again and again.

When it was time to go, we bundled up in our towels, thanked the lifeguard, showered together, and got dressed.  There were no tantrums or melt downs of any kind. 

As we got ready, we chatted with another mother and daughter (although about 20 years older than us) in the change room.  Turns out they too had been on a swim date.  We discussed the importance of remembering all the things you need for trips to the pool (I had forgotten a critical piece of my wardrobe).  And strangely enough we later bumped into them at Starbucks. Apparently this is a mother-daughter date we can enjoy for many years to come.