How to multi-task effectively…

Our summer has been filled with lots of time at the pool.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t all been for pleasure swimming.

We have had several swim meets in the extremely hot weather that has gripped our area.

I have to tell you though that this has not been my favorite part of the summer.

I swam on a summer league swim team from the age of 6 until 18. I then coached summer swim teams for about seven more years beyond that.

The standing on a concrete pool deck that has absorbed the heat of hours of direct sunlight is a memory/activity that I do not wish to engage in. And that isn’t even taking into account the fact that the sun is still beating down mercilessly on your head/body for the first three hours of the meet.

Add in that I am usually having to work as a volunteer at the meet and it just becomes too much to take pictures, to cheer my kids on, to be a good mother and so on and so forth.

Oh wait, who am I kidding?

I didn’t even take these pictures. This is what I was doing for the majority of this meet.

My best friend took all of these pictures as my kids’ swim team was swimming her kids’ swim team.

Seriously people, don’t think me a horrible mother since I appear to not be watching the meet.

I have to take advantage of any few free minutes I can find. My kids were occupied, playing with their friends while waiting to swim, so I chose to engage in one of my favorite things ever. Reading.

And, since I was almost finished with this book, I had to take it with me to the meet. I had to find out what happened at the end. I couldn’t leave myself hanging for the four plus hours that encompasses a swim meet.

Just so you know, I have worked at every meet but this one.

Thank goodness my friend was there to snap these shots of my kids and me. Since I am the one usually holding the camera, it’s nice to have some assistance.

So I send a special thanks to her for helping me in my desperate attempts to chronicle all the random moments of our lives.

Like the fact that my son only swims on a swim team so he can go to the concession stand to buy and then consume candy that turns his mouth and teeth a very unhealthy and unnatural shade of purply blue.