Wednesday was Annie's last swim meet. She qualified for conference in the back stroke. It was hectic to get all three kids up and fed and to the pool at 8 am.
As we were climbing out of the car Kate turned to Annie and said in her darling little voice " You do a great job out there okay!" my heart melted at her love and support as my eyes filled with tears.
(silly Kate wearing one of Annie's caps)We walked into the pool and the coach gave Annie a new cap with her name on it. She put it on and looked so big in her uniform and MURDOCK cap, as I left her with the coach and walked away I had to wipe away the tears. Not even sure what I was feeling- she is getting too big.
(yes the picture is Meg not Annie, but you get the idea of how cute it is)And then Annie's swimming the in morning prelims qualified her for the final that night. They take the top 16 swimmers for each race. Annie was # 16. But when we checked in for warm-up the times had been adjusted and Annie was not # 17- the Alternate. (Don't get fired up- it was very fair, they use the auto wall clocks in the pool but because the kids have never used them before they also have timer and one little girl's clock had not stopped even though she had won her heat in the morning- all fair). We were bummed but she was a really good sport.
We decided to stay and see what happened. Her race came and we noticed that lane 5 was empty- so we were yelling from the balcony. The announcer noticed an empty lane and asked for an alternate. (The coach had told me not to get my hopes up the alternates never swim) So next thing we know Annie is in the water- we were cheering like she had won the race (just excited that she got a chance to swim) The race is about to start and enter stage right a coach who has suddenly noticed that his swimmer is chatting and not in the water. So Annie climbed back out. This time I cried- Sad for the yo-yo of emotions that a 7 year old had to experience over swimming.
Recently my sister and I had a conversation about parenting.
Is it 50% fun experiences and tender moments and
50% sleepless nights and cleaning up throw-up?
Or some days does it feel more like 90/10?
I still haven't decided but I do know I love my kids more than anything.
Even if they make me want to scream and cry, I share with them the good, the bad, the disappointments and the celebrations.
It is overwhelming and humbling to have responsibility for such amazing little people.
9 comments:
what a good sport annie is. I remember doing the swim team. fun times. Oh the things that get me emotional about my kids. There are so many heartbreaking moments from the things they say, to the situations they are in, to the experiences they come home and tell me about! i admit - i got teary eyed at your story! i can't believe how old she is. i still remember seeing you in the wilk and yelling down to you and seeing you were pregnant. seems like just yesterday.
Your post made me get all teary. So well written. Those moments as the mom can be so hard and so tender. I was talking to my sister in law the other day about that exact topic. I loved this post and am so impressed with cute Annie being such a good sport!
Thanks for the tears....I love Annie and am so proud of her swimming abilities! It is tough to yo-yo! Sometimes it is easier to just not be included, but I guess that is life! I too love your kids!
love you! love this post... made me cry! love that annie.
I'm so impressed with Annie and her first swim team. You have a swimmer on your hands. Scholarships? Wouldn't that be nice. I'm sure next year you will chuckle about that fun race.
I don't know if I've seen a truer blog post about parenting. Way to go, Annie!
Amen sister. I cry at the small and simple things most of the time as well. That 90/10 sure is a kicker. Good and bad.
Love Annie- she is such a cool kid! Love and miss you all... was singing Meg's song about chocolate chips when I made cookies the other day. :)
You are a great mom! Annie is such a sweetie!
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