Ex Expat Mom

Writing Challenge for March...

So this month, I am going to write everyday on my blog.  I am participating in the Slice of Life, in which I am to write about a slice of my day.  So here is my first entry...

Maggie at her swim meet

This morning, our alarms went off at 5 AM.  Yesterday morning, I woke up at 9:30 without an alarm, so I am NOT a morning person and I love to sleep in.  After the dreaded alarm went off, my body went in mom mode.  You know what I mean...when  it's up to you to get the kids up and to move, direct and give orders.  We had to be at RPI College this morning by 7 AM for my daughter's swim meet.  7 AM was when warm ups were.  We weren't going to be late this time!

Waking up the kids was fun.  Maggie laid, kept sleeping, and she even hit me in her sleep.  Riley mumbled that he didn't want to go...why did he have to go...  But after 10 minutes, the kids were up, I was showering, and my husband was getting things in order.

We drove to RPI, got there by 7:05.  Maggie was in the pool, warming up, and I was off finding what events she was in, and when they were.  Swim meets are literally crazy.  Once you walk into a swim meet, it's up to you to find where the locker room is, the pool, and where to park yourself for the 4+ hours you will be there.  Parents can only go into the pool area when their child is swimming.  There's traffic in and out of the pool, a pool marshall is directing traffic and kicking parents out of the pool bleachers.  It's complete craziness.  And at 5 AM, it's a slow motion craziness.

Once we found out the events she was swimming, we relaxed and found a place to camp out in the basement of RPI.  Maggie swam in 3 events:  the 50 freestyle (she took off 1 second off her personal best), and the 100 Medley (she took off 3 seconds) and the 50 backstroke (which she placed first in her heat).  I was so proud of her.  She really is a good swimmer.  I love watching her swim, and how peaceful and graceful she is.  The craziness of the swim meet is all around me, but when I watch her swim in those 3 races, I found serene peace as I watch her gracefully float in the water with her smooth motions.  I am amazed.

After the races, it gets crazy again, as we are urged to leave since Maggie has finished her race.  We need to leave and exit to the basement, so the next set of parents can see their kids swim in the little area on the bleachers.  But before I exit, I walk to Maggie's area and yell below that she did great.  I do this after each race.  I want her to know how proud I am of  her.

When she finishes the last race, I meet her in the locker room, and help her change.  We see girls crying in the locker room.  We hear moms telling their daughters that they needed to swim harder.  I look at my 10 year-old daughter, and she looks at me.  I smile.  We don't even need to talk.  She knows I am proud of her.  In the locker room, I witness the "swim moms," and it shocks me that these moms are pushing their daughters.  "Swim moms," "Soccer moms," Dance moms..."  I am seeing it firsthand, and not on some reality show.  Wow.  I squeeze Maggie and comb her hair, and I am proud of our relationship.  She did her best.  She always does.  

5 AM.  An early start to the day. But what a day it was to see my daughter swim her heart out.