Relaxing is for Grandmothers!

Last summer it was difficult for me to relax outside because I had a 9 month old who put everything (everything!) in her mouth.  You name it, she ate it.  Rocks, bugs, sand, trash, ewwww!  I would put her down, she would start grazing.  We went camping, she lunched on dirt.  We tried the beach, she ate the sandcastle.  Needless to say, my "relaxing" days were spent carrying around a baby against her will.  Wow...I'm getting stressed out by the memories!

 We have largely gotten past the oral stage by now, so I was planning on catching up on some of my relaxing this summer.  My vision?  Long days spent at the lake sitting back in my beach chair.  Zoe adept enough in the water that she can swim and play on her own, Sam happily playing in the sand near me, occasionally splashing her toes in the water then quickly running back to the safety of the sand.  Ahhh...delusional me.

The reality?  It took Sam about 2 days at the beach to get comfortable in the water.  Really comfortable.  Too comfortable.  And wanting to do everything (everything!) that her swimming big sister is doing.  She runs in up to her neck, she jumps, she dives.  She climbs on top of floats and balances.  She does it all without a look back.  Or a thought about safety.  So my beach chair once again is the only one relaxing.  I'm spending my summer knee deep in water teaching the "float-back".

Although I may look at it longingly, I know that my chair isn't too lonely.  And I know that these are memories I will keep with me forever, unlike the plot of my latest supermarket best-seller.  I won't remember that next week.  I have a few more years to go before the beach chair and I bond again.  For now, I'll dive right in, get wet, get dirty, have fun.  Relaxing will just have to wait!