What a sweet experience I had this weekend, as Tiffany brought her 3 girls for an overnight visit – Morgan, age 6; Starley, age 4; and Olivia “Livvy” age 3. They came by Saturday afternoon, and stayed till Sunday afternoon.
Saturday, after a brief rest, we took them out to dinner at Red Robin, where they did pretty well. Starley, sadly, had some diarrhea, so we had multiple trips to the bathroom, but we managed, bribing them to finish their dinner with the promise of swimming in the pool later. Tiffany and I decided that I would take the girls swimming, while she took a much-needed break and went shopping for the things I did not have. She asked me multiple times if I was okay with this plan, because “they can be a handful”. I told her…I’m an ER Nurse, I can handle anything. Besides, how hard can it be, right? (Famous last words…)
So, we get home and all change into swimsuits. We collect towels, pool toys, keys, and children. Right before we left, Starley gets a bloody nose, so I grabbed Kleenex too, which I stuffed into my bathing suit (yep, I thought I’d finished “stuffing” years ago…). Halfway to the stairs, Livvy gets a bloody nose too. I grab more Kleenex. We head to the car, and they are both holding their noses to get them to stop before we can go in the pool. We load up the van, and I drove down to the pool; as I’m parking, Tiff drives by in my car and honks and waves…she’s FREE! The bloody noses have stopped, but then as we’re getting out of the van and walking towards the pool, Starley says “I think I pooped in my swimsuit”, and Morgan pipes up with “yep, Starley pooped in her swimsuit”. Okay…I can do this…I say to myself, “I’m an ER Nurse, I can handle anything, right?” We get into the pool area, drop the toys, towels and keys onto a chair, and march straight into the bathroom where I wash the swimsuit in the sink while she finished in the toilet. Yep…no gloves…not quite the ER, but then everyone knows children aren’t as toxic as adults anyways right? I’m actually laughing to myself about this situation. So we finish with that…still no more bloody noses…things are good.
We go out and hop in the children’s pool. I sit on the side and blow up the pool toys, and we play. These aren’t children, they are FISH!!! The light and excitement in their eyes as they play and swim in the water, is something I’ve not seen in many people, but have always felt within myself. They love the water as much as I do! Then Starley has to go to the bathroom again. Everyone had to sit out of the pool and on the side while I march her back into the bathroom. They mind me, and I’m thinking – this isn’t so bad. No accidents this time, just a minor bloody nose which went away pretty fast. More playing in the water. Then Livvy gets out and announces that she has pooped in her swimsuit…are you kidding me?!…I mean, what are the odds? Everyone gets out of the water again as Livvy and I head toward the bathroom to clean up. Yep, I did it again without gloves, still laughing about the whole situation. The joy in their faces and their love of the water is worth it all to me!
In the beginning, I’d told them that we’d stay until someone got tired and grumpy. Now we’re an hour into the pool experience (from the time we hit the water), and still no one is tired and grumpy. I’m thinking, “How am I ever going to get these fish out of here? We can’t stay too late, it’s already 8:30 pm and we have to get to bed so we can get to church at 9 in the morning.” So I mention that it’s almost time to go. Yep, sure enough, they remembered what I’d said first and pipe up with, “but no one is tired or grumpy yet”. What now? Then it comes to me, the pool “closes” when the sun goes down, and the sun is definitely going down…5 more minutes and two more games of “who can hang onto the raft the longest” (while I spin it around the pool and try to shake them off). (Starley won every time except the last time when Morgan won.)
So a few minutes later, we gather everything and head to the van, come home, take baths, and they go to bed. As I shared with Tiffany the story of it all, she is amazed that I’m still alive and even more that I’m still smiling about it all. I reminded her that it could have been worse...that I was just glad we didn’t leave any poop floating in the water…true story…that was my proudest accomplishment today. And those children slept well ALL NIGHT LONG! That alone was worth it to me, that everyone was able to get some good sleep.
Aren't they beautiful?!
We dressed and went to church today, and had a good afternoon…again, LONG naps! Then this evening, we packed up and loaded the van so they could go back to their grandparents’ home. Little tears came to my eyes as they pulled out, yelling “love you’s” and blowing kisses. What a sweet weekend for me! I'll be looking forward to another visit sometime! :-)
1 comment:
Wendy, you're a SAINT! Thank you so much for your support and light heart. -Brian (the father of fish)
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