Mommy, I Stood Up For Myself.

The pool the kids practice at is a community pool.

It’s a 50 meter pool with a diving well, so it’s pretty big.

When we are there for swim practice, half of the pool is used by the swim team, and the other half of the pool is divided into a few lap lanes and then an open swim area for members.

The way our practices go, Numbers 3, 4, 5 and 7 all start practice at about the same time. But Number 5 and 7 only practice for an hour, and Number 3 and 4’s practices are two or two-and-a-half hours long.

So Number 5 and 7 have at least an hour to hang around and wait after their practice is done.

Number 6 is also along for the ride most days, although he’s not on the swim team.

We have a pass to the pool so the kids can swim for fun when their practice is over. Sometimes Number 5 and 7 will finish their practice and then swim for fun afterwards, and Number 6 gets his suit on and they all have free swim together.

Tonight Number 6 and 7 swam for over an hour during free swim. They went off the diving board and played water basketball and had all sorts of fun.

They have a big raft/boat thing at the pool that the kids love to play on. Number 6 and 7 were playing on that a lot tonight.

It was more crowded than usual at the pool tonight because there was a big party going on, so there were lots of kids there.

Number 6 and 7 were having so much fun I had to drag them out of the pool.

As we were walking to get their bags, Number 6 said to me,

“Mommy, see that boy on the raft over there?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“He was really mean to me, and he kept shoving me off the raft, and then he hit me,” he told me.

Keep in mind that Number 6 is my super emotional kid who reacts about the same way to a hangnail as he does to, let’s say… dismemberment.

He’s also very compassionate and he picks up on other peoples’ emotions, and when I am having a rough time he always knows, and he will come over and give me a hug and tell me how much he loves me.

Between his penchant for being overly dramatic at times and his extra sensitivity, I sometimes worry about how he will fare if someone is an asshole to him.

I was sitting at a table getting some work done on my laptop while the kids were swimming, so I didn’t see any of this happening between Number 6 and the not-so-nice boy.

So he tells me about this kid being a jerk to him and pushing him and then hitting him, and then he said,

“Mommy, I stood up for myself!”

“You did?” I said.

“Yeah. I told the kid he better not do that again, because if he did, I was gonna hit him back, and if I did that, IT WAS REALLY GOING TO HURT.”

“You did!?!” I replied, somewhat incredulously.

“Yep,” said Number 6.

“And what did he say?” I asked.

“He didn’t say anything. He swam far away, and he left me alone after that.”

Well, I guess my little momma’s boy has a badass side to him, and he’s not gonna let anyone push him around.

I’m surprised, impressed, and also feeling pretty relieved that while my little man may be sensitive, he’s not gonna let anyone f*ck with him.

And as a mom who always worries if she is doing a good job raising kids who are kind to other people but also not total doormats, I gotta say, that feels pretty darn good.

Wanna look cute while you work out?

Wanna look cute while you don’t work out?

JOIN MY BADASS ZYIA COMMUNITY.