On : Peppermint-crisp tart and being 'Saved'... Oh and the last Swim of being 7 ...

Hi :)

It's funny how these things happen to me...

One minute...normal life...the next...a blog post in my brain :)
It doesn't happen often enough...

I have less than 20 min to 'pen' this one...

GO

We went outside into our backyard he and I...

He still isn't allowed to play out there on his own...never has been.

Our swimming pool is uncovered...and that has always been our rule...

The dogs greeted us with loud barking, energetic jumping that belies their years
 and tireless tail wagging as always :)

I listen hopefully for the baby birds we have heard begging for food on the roof...

but nothing ...

My camera is in my pocket...

We came out here so Bradley,
 who is hot from kicking his ball around the front...
can put his feet into the pool for a bit of a cool down...

He starts what we came out here to do...

I notice ... as i always do...

the way the sun sparkles and spins in the water he is waking from it's long Winter slumber...

I begin to photograph him...

After a while i have plenty of shots...
 and this 'tame foot dangling' is about to become his first swim of  Spring...
the water is COLD still... but his fun filled nature is fearlessly leading the way...

I take photos of him...getting in deeper and deeper...
childhood excitement and exhilaration written all over him...my eyes are drawn to how the back of his hair is getting wet and is darker... and how a few drops of water higher up are winking at me in the sunlight...

My heart stirs the bitter-sweet syrup of motherhood into these words...

"Last swim as a 7 year old !...." i call out to him who holds my heart...
  as i squeeze the shutter button again...

My tender heart aches just a little bit as these words sink into my soul...

oh the sweet sticky-ness of it all...

I surrender to this feeling like i have surrendered to motherhood...
...completely...

Surrender really is the only way you know...
the secret to enjoying every precious moment...
yes, even the brutal ones...

As Bradley bounces in deeper and deeper on the tips of his little boy toes...

I take the time to capture him...
his essence...
on his last day of being 7...

 One thing i know...like i know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west...

Time is fleeting...

It flows like a river...
Sluggish and meandering at places along the way...
Fast and relentlessly in others...

Time never rests...no matter what!

We [he and i] will never come past this way again...

He splashes and calls out to me through the coldness and the laughter...

"Look Mom! ... one last jump"...changing his mind...greedy for the fun to last a little longer...
"3rd last jump..."

He jumps many more times than that :)
I stop counting...

When the cold finally wins and he decides to get out...he stands in warm sunlight...

hair plastered down flat and dark...drops of water cling like kisses to his face...

I wrap a colourful towel around his shoulders...

I see goosebumps on his legs...I rub his hair dry quickly to help bring back his warmth...
and then i hug him close to me...trying to give him some of mine...his skin is icy to the touch...
i rub his back and shoulders and let go of him...and He says "no hold onto me Mom!"

I can only obey...

He is remembering something and asks how old he was when last he swam...

He then tells me it was on a day that turned rainy in the afternoon and that we ate peppermint-crisp fridge tart that day... and that it was good :)

The next memory he has is of me jumping into a busy hotel pool fully clothed to 'save' him...

I told him today that i will always 'save' him if i can...

I mean it too.

Why do we sometimes think that little kids do not understand or can't or wont remember...?

His memories about our life and love are vivid...which always surprises me...

mine are too ... which doesn't...

He even remembers that another mommy said that i rescued him so 'beautifully' [gracefully]

and that she gushed about how it was a 'magical moment'...one in which he learned that i will always be there for him...for all of my life...

For me it was instinctive...
i was on my post...
  watching him and reading and watching and reading...
i glanced over at him...
intuition alerted me...
  he no longer looked comfortable somehow...  i didn't look down again... 

I went from 'lounging' to sitting upright as i watched to see if he was ok...he was struggling a little...  all he needed to do was turn around and move towards the shallows...but he had begun to panic at being out of his depth...

 As soon as he said 'mommy help' i was up and moving quickly but without panic and apparently quite gracefully...closing the distance between him and me i threw down my hat and kicked off my shoes...my eyes searched for the shortest distance between him and me...reaching the wall i needed to jump off  ... i remember thinking as i fell through the air ... i can't believed i am doing this!...

The water was lovely and warm ... welcoming even... 

The next moment i had him scooped up and in my arms... safe and sound... saved...

This whole episode took mere seconds to play out...
and probable didn't warrant me making my 'dramatic much' splash...lol 

The things parents will do for their kids!

Thinking about it now...i love that he said...'the day you saved me'


Happy Birthday Monkey... you are the sweetness in my life <3

Post Script
I 'saved' him in December 2012...He was just 6...and he could swim.
Afterwards he told me he had become disoriented by somersaulting one too many times...