The perfect swim!

'Let's go swimming!', was P his ultimate idea this morning. P has got 10 days a summer free time to spend with us! Not that this means exclusive contact. Nope the iPhone is still fired up. Also the private practice stays open for visitors in pain. P is not a globe trotter and so he just likes it to take it slow once he does not need to be in the hospital. A is very happy to have his dad around for so much more time. But I sometimes want to just get him out of the house asap! With or without us!

The swimming idea was not such a bad idea but it seemed the only idea P could come up with the last 5 days. And I was having for the moment some certain serious issues with filled up pools. 'You don't need to come if you don't want to!', he said. But A wanted to show me how well he could now swim across the deep water! So I packed up all the swimming gear and dragged myself to the car!

I do believe that physical activity is very important but for the moment I do not want it to take place in a pool. 'It is not the swimming I do not like, P, it all the things that get in my way while swimming!', I explained to him. The hurdles I need to take in order to get some swimming done are close to facing the Mount Everest.

1. Looking right for swimming! I am not talking about turning into Pamela Anderson in Bay Watch but half of the time my hair is popping up all over my body parts! And sorry even being half of the time being covered up by water does not seem to work. The suspicious looks I get under the shower can already make me run back into me changing room! Brazilian Wax here I come!!!!

2. Getting changed! Such a bliss those changing rooms! Claustrophobic I get between those four walls. Not to mention the fact that half of my outfit (and I am not talking about my swimming suit) is already wet before having tipped one toe into the pool. Always I manage to pick out the one where they have left a puddle as big as the Atlantic Ocean!

3. Dealing with lockers! AHHHH!!! Change and keys are two more items that can drive me nuts! Most of the time I just throw everything in there like an Olympic Disc and hope that when I come back that I will find my shampoo fast underneath that big pile of personal belongings. Also the combo of wet fingers and metal seems not to work for me. Cursing, showing the finger, calling bad names, head banging I have done it in front of a locker! More suspicous looks guaranteed!

4. Taking a shower! There I meet up with many humans who are on the same mission! There the war starts. First for a spot underneath for one shower that works and will produce enough water to make you wet. The 'obligatory' shower I do not mind but I do mind the looks I encounter there. Seems then already many have decided that I am the enemy! 'She is not going to swim in my lane, not today!'-looks all over.

5. Picking out the right lane! Stallie sucks at this part!! I screw up this very essential part of my swimming outings! Here I get hit by a torpedo! Because I seem not to fit into a single lane. Not the slow one or the fast one. And even once I have managed to find an empty lane I still seem to be in the one where then the next wannabe Michael Phelps jumps into and threatens to crash into me! Not to mention the many times that two women pick out MY lane as the perfect place for exchanging the latest gossip!

6. Dealing with my hair! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Once I manage to cover successful the things mentioned her above I face the ultimate wet nightmare. MY HAIR!!! Not that I have tried tons of trade secrets that were passed on by own hair dressers. Still, I need to drag along half of my bathroom to bring back that healthy shine and to get that big bunch of hair untangled! One time I even got out with my brush still stuck to my head! No, I am not kidding! I had to hide my head underneath a huge orange towel and ran in a personal olympic record to my car! And nope, even the high quality (Swiss!!!) blow dryers seem not to be up to the task to get my hair back into shape!

7. Getting rid of the chlorine smell! Not that I do mind the substance itself but it manages to turn me insane! Because if I do want to smell fine in front of a black board or at a dinning table then I need an other shower to get rid of that pool perfume! And sorry, two times dealing with shampoo, conditioner and tons of hair products and brushing equipment that I just seem not to handle correctly are just a bit too much to handle for one day! When I then face the fact that I have forgotten my 'magic' brush at the pool I go ballistic! 'Uhm, I went for a swim, can you tell and smell!'-looks are sometimes the once I drag along for days!

So, nope P did not turn this into the perfect holiday day! The only highlight was A who managed to take in bravely his three portions of antibiotics. For the moment he is fighting back a dental infection.

P even had one of what I call a precious 'Doctor-Carlisle-Cullen-moment' while trying to force the bad smelling medication into the throat of his son! The doctor in holiday spirit seemed to loose it because A seemed to think that this white bad smelling and tasting substance belonged every where but not in his mouth! 'I just can't stand this! When he is this way I just feel so bad! Because this really smells bad and tastes awful!, he said while looking very compassionate! A topped this up by announcing just before going to bed:'Mum, I did like the swimming part today better then taking antibiotics!' Yeah, right!!