Silver Lining

Lucas's first swim meet was a disaster. First of all, he wasn't in the lineup (probably because we joined late), so I had to ask the coach if we should plan on him swimming, which made me feel like a whiny parent. Then the pre-meet activities were total chaos. Wendy said the meet last week that we missed was much more so, so I guess this is not uncommon. There were what seemed like thousands of kids in blue and red bathing suits swarming everywhere. I was trying to pay attention to what Lucas needed to be doing, while holding a sweaty toddler in the near 100 degree heat. First he had to sign in, then lineup for a practice lap, then go to the clubhouse for the pep talk (which then was cancelled and rescheduled for 5 min later after we walked there and back), then there was just waiting while the races began.. Like I said - chaos. Most of this was probably due to it was my first time ever at a swim meet. I had to smile as I looked at the mom's who seemed totally comfortable with their surroundings knowing that I'll be that mom in about 10 years (assuming Lucas is still on this swim team when he's 14).

Lucas was signed up for freestyle and backstroke. It was my understanding that there would be an adult in the lane with them, like at practice, with the Under 6 swimmers. Wendy and I panicked as Charles and Lucas were finally lined up getting ready to race and there was no adult to be found in the water. Someone assured us that she would be the one to jump in after the first heat began their race. So I'm standing there, so proud of Lucas and that he is about to swim in his first race. Jeff is across the pool, equally as proud, in a prime location that he secured for taking pictures. All of a sudden, seconds before he's supposed to jump in, they grab him and tell him he needs to swim in the first lane instead of the fifth. So I follow him over there to make sure he knows I'm near. And wouldn't you know it, when it's his turn to go there is NO ADULT in his lane. Of course he got scared and said he didn't want to do it alone. And of course I scooped him up and told him that he didn't have to and that someone made a mistake by not having an assistant in the water. My heart was breaking because I thought he'd be traumatized by this experience, or at least embarrassed. I'm happy to say that his response to all of this was, "Can I have that blue sno cone now?"

We left before the backstroke race and I think I'm going to put swim team on hold until next year. Lucas just doesn't care one way or the other, and he really didn't seem to get the whole thing about cheering and racing last night. That on top of the extreme heat and the fact that Ellen was miserable, it's not worth it.

I felt like a failure and was really hard on myself last night. I had a feeling that this was a little above his head, and even said it out loud, but didn't go with my gut. Jeff said that Lucas didn't care or even know that there was anything out of the ordinary that happened. So that is the silver lining. Maybe Lucas has inherited Jeff's laid back temperament and will not let things affect him like his mommy does!