Local Beach

When our boys were little, we went to this local park every weekend to swim and enjoy the beach. As the boys got older, they still loved the park but it was starting to wear on me.  I had spent years standing waist deep in the pond keeping an eye on Mikey in the water.  He could swim, but I needed to be close by in case he tried to give someone a hug or get a piggyback ride from a kid who was less confident with their swimming skills. The last thing I wanted was for Mikey to scare someone by accident. That meant while we were at the pond, I was always on guard.

Will could swim independently, fish, catch frogs, play tetherball with pals and go out on the boats by himself so he was having a great time. He was fine.  And, Mikey was the happiest if he was swimming, playing in the sand or snacking in his beach chair. 

The boys were happy, but Mom was getting worn out on this routine.  Packing up, driving to the pond, setting up the chairs, supervising the swimming and keeping an eye on Mikey…it was a lot. It meant that I was coming home as tired out as the boys.  

That meant I wasn’t getting ahead on the parenting game…they needed to get tired out without me getting tired too.  Luckily, we had put in the pool at home, so Mikey got lots of swim time outside of the park.  Also, Will was getting old enough to go to the park with his pals if I signed him in (park rules).  

As your parenting years go on and you’re not running on the adrenaline of the first years of a diagnosis, you can modify things to meet your own needs, while still meeting the needs of your kiddos. In fact, you need to modify things so that you can stay in this race for the long haul. You can’t quit, so you need to find ways to rest.

We didn’t give up on the park at all. We still went sometimes, when I had the energy to supervise Mikey. To this day, we hike there, on a beautiful trail that surrounds the lake. We’re lucky to have this local park and it will forever hold many fond memories for us as a family.