Therefore after a few weeks, I finally decided I was tired of the mess and it was time to clean it. So, yesterday morning we dug out the shop vac, the hose, the scrub brush and started to it. Given that we wanted to start early, since it seems it is blazing hot by 9:00 a.m. these days, we just went to work right after breakfast. In fact, we didn't even change out of our PJ's before attacking the backyard.
The boys worked very hard with me, taking turns wiping down the patio furniture, scrubbing the pool deck, the walls, and everything else in the backyard. As one would scrub, the other would suck up the dirty water from the hose and brush. As the minutes went by, the sweat continued to roll down our faces, neck and arms but the boys didn't complain and continued to work. I cautiously waiting for the whining and complaining to start but they seemed just fine to help.
Given, that I know I can be kind of a "drill Sargent" (Jarrett's endearing nickname for me), I decided that after we were done, I'd stop with the other list of chores and surprise the boys with something fun. As we cleaned up and hosed off our legs that were covered with splattered dirt, we wrapped up the hose, picked up the vacuum and then I called the boys over to the edge of the pool and asked them to look down at the bottom.
I said, "Boys, look, do you see that?" And before they could ask, "What mom?" I playfully, pushed them into the pool, PJ's and all. It was hilarious as their heads came back up out of the water, afraid that they were going to get in trouble for being in the pool without their swimming suits and I just smiled. Then I screamed, "YEA!!!!" and took a running leap and jumped right in too. It was then that they realized it was for fun and started laughing their heads off.
"Mom, you are so silly, did you know you pushed us in? Gabriel said.
"Mommy, it is silly that we are swimming in our pajamas." Michael yelled.
Minutes later as we were swimming around, one by one they'd come up to me, give me a hug and say, "Mommy, I love you! Thank you for letting me swim in my pajamas" "Mom, I love you so much. Thanks for letting us go swimming in our nighties."
As we tried to cool off and swim in our PJ's, I realized how much fun it was not just for the boys, but for mom too. It seems the list of chores is never ending and I guess I need to get better at just letting it be. The boys are growing up in front of our eyes and soon enough, they'll want to spend more time with friends than we us. I need to remember the lesson of quality time now. I hope the boys will remember the day we swam in our pajamas... I know I'll remember it for a very very long time.
Until next time
angie
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