Yesterday afternoonwe went to a play group organized by some ladies in my new ward.  I’ve never been to a swimming pool playgroup before, but apparently someone in the ward volunteered their backyard pool and once a week a bunch of women and their kids get together to go swimming!

I LOVE swimming.  Not that I do much actual swimming with two non-swimming toddlers in the pool with me, but I got to be in the water for a while and it was great.  I’ve never done any competitive swimming, except I once won a trophy in a water ballet competition when I was a teenager, and I’m not an impressively strong swimmer, but it just feels good to be light in the cool water and stretch my limbs as I move.

We almost didn’t make it to the play group.  There’s always a lot of uncertainty about whether I’ll feel well enough to go anywhere at any time, especially if I have to be the only adult in charge of both kids, so the whole outing was tentative in the first place.  As Colin left for work, he said “Go swimming at all costs!”  Sounds a little extreme, but it was strangely encouraging for me as I thought about it all day every time I came up with an excuse to not go.  By the time it was time to leave, I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to get everyone in the car and give it a try.

The official word was that the activity was to go from 2-4, and at 2:06 I had gotten me, the kids, three towels, three sets of swim suits and sandals, and two blow-up floating toys in the car.  As I drove away from the house, I realized that none of us had eaten in a couple of hours.  I didn’t want to have my kids asking the hostess for a snack, and I don’t do well when I get hungry, so I decided to drop by Taco Bell on my way to the pool.  Almost to Taco Bell, I realized that I’d forgotten to take my anti-nausea medicine at noon, and if I waited any longer I’d be in big trouble that evening.  So, we stopped at Taco Bell for a snack, then turned around to go back to the house for my medicine.  When I finally got us back on the road, it was 2:45, but I figured we could still get a good 45 minutes of swimming in even though we’d be late.

When we finally arrived at the correct house, I took the kids to the front door and let Degen ring the bell.  No answer.  I wondered if the party was over.  Luckily, I had the phone number of the woman who’d invited me and called her up on my cell phone that was nearly out of batteries (that reminds me, I need to charge my phone)–and she answered!  She said that it wasn’t too late to come, and that no one was in the house and to come around the side of the house and down to the pool.  Just then, another mom with a bunch of kids drove up and showed me where to go.

But, I had to go back to the car for the swimming gear.  As I pulled it out of the trunk, Degen accidentally pushed Maggie off the sidewalk and into the gutter, resulting in a skinned knee and hurt feelings.  So, I held Maggie, my purse, a bag of swimming suits, three towels, and Degen’s hand as we walked down the steep steps to the pool.  Degen held the two floating toys and was an awesome helper.  We made it!

When we finally got in the pool, both Degen and Maggie insisted that they wanted to get out.  I insisted that they stay in!  After a couple of minutes of getting used to the temperature of the water, I let Degen get out so he could observe what the other kids were doing in the water–he’s always had a tough time with swimming pools and I thought that if he got to watch for a while he’d warm up to the idea.  Maggie generally loves the water, so when she said she wanted out I just told her no and let her cling to me.  Degen later found someone’s small boogie-board thingy and suddenly loved the water!  He let me float him around the pool as he kicked as long as he got to hold on to the boogie board.  I think that might be the magical tool to get him to be willing to practice swimming, and one of the ladies said they’re really cheap at Target, so I think I’m going to pick one up.  Maggie pretty much relaxed and enjoyed herself, though I was surprised that she never really wanted to splash in the water and wanted me to hold her the whole time. Oh well, it’ll just take some time to get used to.

Swimming was great, but meeting some other women and beginning the process of making friends was really good for me.  Pretty much everyone was friendly, and we began exchanging “life stories.”  It’d been at least a month since I’d spent any time casually with anyone my own age outside my family, and I think I needed that.  You think that’s why Colin wanted me to go “at all costs”?  Hmmm…

Speaking of shots, I’m going to say something rather controversial.  My mother didn’t have my three youngest siblings vaccinated back in the early 90s, I guess because she questioned whether all the ingredients in the immunizations were safe.  When I had kids, I called her to get her advice on shots and she said that since she’d gone to medical school and seen more research and information about the newer vaccines she’d decided that they’re safe and she’d have the kids immunized now if she had time.  However, she said that she thinks it’s somewhat unnescessary to immunize babies unless they’re going to be in daycare or another high-risk place for getting diseases.  She suggested that, since I’d be staying home with them and their access to infected people would be extremely limited, I might want to wait a year or so before having them get their shots so that their little immune systems would be more developed when they deal with the onslaught.  So, that’s what Colin and I decided to do.

We started Degen’s schedule of shots at a year and Maggie got her first shots today (18 months) and they’ve both been exceptionally healthy.  When our new doctor here questioned me about why these were Maggie’s first shots, I explained the above to him, and he (understandably) told me that he disagreed with my decision and told me that “there’s a web site of women like you telling their stories of how they regret their decision to not immunize their children.”  The obligatory guilt trip over after I smiled sympathetically, he mentioned in a rather surprised tone that my kids are really actually very healthy.  He took a look in their ears and down their throats, told me they’re growing well, asked me if they fight a lot (they don’t), and handed me some informational paperwork on potty training.  Then he sent in the nurse to do the shots.

At our old doctor’s office in Utah (American Fork Clinic, Dr. Hoggard), they had a great nursing staff.  When they did a big set of shots (two or more at a time), they would send in two nurses and administer two shots simultaneously, efficiently and effectively.  It was awesome.  The nurse at my new doctor’s office did a great job today, but she was only one person, and Maggie got four sticks in succession in her chubby little legs.  I prefer the other system.  Maggie didn’t scream until the third shot, but then she made it known that she was not interested in putting up with us any more.  All the shots finished, she screamed and cried for about three more minutes and then I gave her a sucker that the doctor had handed me for her on his way out and she quickly became cheerful again.  The one odd thing about the process was that the nurse explained the normal sysmptoms and when to worry or not about her shots as she gave the shots.  I heard nothing.  I was busy trying to calm Maggie down to hear her over Maggie’s screams.  Luckily, she gave me some paperwork explaining everything (I hope!) she’d just said.  Of course, I was so distraught about my injured baby that I forgot to take the paperwork with me and didn’t realize it until I’d gotten both kids buckled happily into their car seats and had to undo my heroic work and go back into the office and ask another nurse to go searching for the papers.  And no, I didn’t know which room number we’d been in.  And then we repeated the walk-to-the-car and buckle-up processes.

Degen is really into chivalry, to my delight and chagrin.  He likes to hold doors open for people as they enter or leave, and it’s very cute and a habit I want to encourage.  The downside comes when I’m trying to corral both him and his sister into or out of a building and he wants to stay and hold the door open for the next 10 people while I try to figure out why he refuses to obey my command to “come!”  That happened to us today BOTH times we left the doctor’s office on the way to the car.  An ancient gentleman who was going into the office was confused about why Degen wanted to hold the door open for him–hopefully he wasn’t insulted.

Speaking of shots, I’m going to say something rather controversial.  My mother didn’t have my three youngest siblings vaccinated back in the early 90s, I guess because she questioned whether all the ingredients in the immunizations were safe.  When I had kids, I called her to get her advice on shots and she said that since she’d gone to medical school and seen more research and information about the newer vaccines she’d decided that they’re safe and she’d have the kids immunized now if she had time.  However, she said that she thinks it’s somewhat unnescessary to immunize babies unless they’re going to be in daycare or another high-risk place for getting diseases.  She suggested that, since I’d be staying home with them and their access to infected people would be extremely limited, I might want to wait a year or so before having them get their shots so that their little immune systems would be more developed when they deal with the onslaught.  So, that’s what Colin and I decided to do.

We started Degen’s schedule of shots at a year and Maggie got her first shots today (18 months) and they’ve both been exceptionally healthy.  When our new doctor here questioned me about why these were Maggie’s first shots, I explained the above to him, and he (understandably) told me that he disagreed with my decision and told me that “there’s a web site of women like you telling their stories of how they regret their decision to not immunize their children.”  The obligatory guilt trip over after I smiled sympathetically, he mentioned in a rather surprised tone that my kids are really actually very healthy.  He took a look in their ears and down their throats, told me they’re growing well, asked me if they fight a lot (they don’t), and handed me some informational paperwork on potty training.  Then he sent in the nurse to do the shots.

At our old doctor’s office in Utah (American Fork Clinic, Dr. Hoggard), they had a great nursing staff.  When they did a big set of shots (two or more at a time), they would send in two nurses and administer two shots simultaneously, efficiently and effectively.  It was awesome.  The nurse at my new doctor’s office did a great job today, but she was only one person, and Maggie got four sticks in succession in her chubby little legs.  I prefer the other system.  Maggie didn’t scream until the third shot, but then she made it known that she was not interested in putting up with us any more.  All the shots finished, she screamed and cried for about three more minutes and then I gave her a sucker that the doctor had handed me for her on his way out and she quickly became cheerful again.  The one odd thing about the process was that the nurse explained the normal sysmptoms and when to worry or not about her shots as she gave the shots.  I heard nothing.  I was busy trying to calm Maggie down to hear her over Maggie’s screams.  Luckily, she gave me some paperwork explaining everything (I hope!) she’d just said.  Of course, I was so distraught about my injured baby that I forgot to take the paperwork with me and didn’t realize it until I’d gotten both kids buckled happily into their car seats and had to undo my heroic work and go back into the office and ask another nurse to go searching for the papers.  And no, I didn’t know which room number we’d been in.  And then we repeated the walk-to-the-car and buckle-up processes.

Degen is really into chivalry, to my delight and chagrin.  He likes to hold doors open for people as they enter or leave, and it’s very cute and a habit I want to encourage.  The downside comes when I’m trying to corral both him and his sister into or out of a building and he wants to stay and hold the door open for the next 10 people while I try to figure out why he refuses to obey my command to “come!”  That happened to us today BOTH times we left the doctor’s office on the way to the car.  An ancient gentleman who was going into the office was confused about why Degen wanted to hold the door open for him–hopefully he wasn’t insulted.

I looked Herriot up on the Wikipedia today and found out that Herriot is a pen name–his real name is James Alfred Wight. Many of the place names and the names of people in his books are changed, and the chronology is often out of order.  But the whole series heartwarming and funny and friendly and makes me happy when I'm grumpy.  So, go read it.  I've also heard that there are film versions and even a BBC series, but I haven't seen them so I don't know first-hand if they're any good.  Let me know if you've seen them and like them.