Will We EVER Get There?

Today was supposed to be a pool day with the MOMS club at one of the city pools........I must admit, I was a bit reluctant at first after a VERY scary episode last week.........we were at a pool day at a friend's house who has steps leading into the pool and the boys do ok now with their floaties, so I figured that we would go play with our friends......well when we were going to get out Carter and Cameron were on this ledge that is only knee deep on them, playing with these little fountains........it was the first time Cameron had even gotten in that day.......I was swimming around with Carter earlier, with his floaties on, but they were just standing on the ledge and I was right there, so they didn't have them on........well, Cameron wanted to get out, so I took him out the stairs and dried him off a little.......he wanted to play with these cars again on a little 3 tiered thing, but there were ants by it, so I was moving it over and making sure he wasn't going to get bit again (we didn't need another trip to urgent care again).......when I turned around and Carter is NOT on the ledge.............he is around this little corner...........UNDER the water, kicking, trying to reach up, but is going to the bottom of the pool! I run in the pool and scoop him up........he comes up crying, so I know/think he is ok.................Mommy, on the other hand, just wants to die right there in that moment...............How could I let this happen? How could I look away? How could no one else see him? What if I had spent even more time with Cameron or gone over and dried Sidney off before I went to get him? I just kept saying in my mind over and over again "oh my gosh.....oh my gosh, I can NOT believe what just happened".....I wrapped a towel around him and took him to sit on the couch/swing.....just trying not to completely lose it and wondering if I should go have him checked out by a doctor, as I had no idea how long he was under the water! He just layed on my chest like he really needed the comforting........... I was even afraid to let him take a nap that day and thought he would be terrified of the water from now on............he was fine though, and went in the pool at my Mom's house this past weekend......and since the public pool has the zero depth entry, the boys will most likely stay shallow and not cause Mommy to have another near heart attack and Sidney will play around the structure and they all would be ok (and there are lifeguards there too....which makes Mommy feel a lot more comfortable!).........I had thought about setting my alarm this morning, but thought that if last night was anything like the night before (where Carter had been up since 3am and I only got 3 hours of sleep, then I would just try to get as much rest as I could)..........as it was Sidney was up from about 3:45 - 4:45am, so I needed the rest........amazingly, the boys slept all night............and since Sidney was in the bed with me she slept in....................until after 8am! YEAH for sleeping in!!!!!! The boys actually slept in until around 9am, so I was taking some time off of the computer and playing with Sidney......but I kept telling her that I REALLY needed to take a shower and shave my legs.......well, the boys woke up before I could do that, so I had to get their milk and juice cups and jumped in........my kids are not really morning people............they like to lounge around and have their drinks and play or watch a little Playhouse Disney...............then maybe eat a little.......then get ready.........so by the time I got us all dressed we were already about an hour late...........


I filled the kids cups up again and threw a few snacks in a cooler, got their clothes to change into afterwards, grabbed their car seat coolers and got everyone loaded up! We were just pulling into the parking lot at the pool and I remembered that they only take cash and I had forgotten to go to the bank..................Dang it! .....I asked them where the nearest bank was and headed that way..........luckily they had a branch of our new bank, and a drive through - they really need drive-through everything!.. (our bank got bought out by another bank........and apparently they haven't switched all the CA & AZ accounts over yet,) so it took a VERY long time to cash this itty-bitty check that I had.............I mean a LONG time! So, we are on our way back to the pool when I think one of the kids had created a surprise, of the not-so-desirable type for Mommy in their swim diaper...............Plus, we just pull into the parking lot when I realized that I forgot our towels.................and now need another swim diaper if one of the boys are poopy....................are you kidding me? Dang it again!!!!!....I look in the back of the car to see if there is a blanket or something....anything to dry us off with so I don't have to go all the way home again..........................nope, nothing................so I head home.............trying not to stress out about how late we are..............I resolve that we are NOT going to be able to see our friends....but I will take the kids swimming anyway. Sidney is ALWAYS asking to go swimming and I've put this much effort into it already........and the kids would be soooooo disappointed if I just went home. So I run home and grab the towels I left sitting on the chair and heat up some nuggets for the boys real quick and make Sidney and I a PB & J sandwich, grab some chips, juice boxes and cookies...........and we're on our way again...........we finally get there (and Carter has peed in his car seat..............the swim diapers do not hold anything..........they just keep the brown stuff from getting all over...........so now his car seat is wet......and I'm sure will soon be nice and stinky!) and I realize that it closes in only about 40 minutes.............AND they have just closed it for the next 10 minutes due to an incident......of the brown nature.............Oh man! We just can't win today!....I figured we could eat our lunch and by the time they are through the pool will be opened again.................so they did get to swim for about 25 minutes or so (they want everyone out of the pool, locker room and gone by the time they close)......I let them play in the water until the very last moment and then just dried them off a little and put them in the car in their suits.................we'll try swimming some more at home at the community pool...........when we got there it was still all filled with dirt and leaves from the storm a couple of days ago.............we swam for a little bit anyway................................the boys are trying to drop their naps these days..................which makes for very frustrating/trying afternoons for Mommy..................it's bound to get better though...............I hope!