Last summer we had a priest friend over for dinner and some swimming. We all had a lovely time, but as he was leaving he remarked that he was a little surprised at how exhausting swimming with a bunch of small children could be.
At the time we had three kids in the category of “Almost a Swimmer”. They could swim, but had a tendency to get overwhelmed easily if they were out in the middle of the pool. Their strategy is, of course, to grab on to the most solid thing they can – anyone swimming close by. And since Fr. H was the fun new guy, they all flocked to him and did their best to nearly drown him.
I can swim pretty well. I can’t do any nicely formed strokes for lovely efficient laps, but I feel confident in the water. But when I am in the middle of the deep end and suddenly I have 3 little bodies hanging on me to keep them afloat, if can really become a struggle to keep my head above water.
When I thought about it, that kind of sums up being a parent, especially to a bunch of little ones. My family is depending on me to keep them above water, and well, sometimes I am in over my head. but my best strategy in the pool is to always stay where my feet can touch the ground, then I can support the rest of them. In real life, that means I have to be realistic about what I take on – there will be no amazing accomplishments from me. Most days keeping up with the dishes AND the laundry at the same time is enough. Because if I take my eyes off these little ones so that I can do something great – something that is out of my own reach right now, all of use have different reaches – we can all get in over our heads pretty quickly. I need to focus on the task at hand, supporting my children and keeping their heads above water until they are strong enough to do it themselves, because that is amazing all by itself.
And as for the ground that I stand on – that is another post.