I am no longer welcome at public pool’s alone.
Ok, here’s the context. On the weekend of June 12 & 13, I was up at Blue Mountain for Urban Blog Fest. UBF (as I alone am calling it) was an opportunity for most of the urbanmoms.ca bloggers to connect in person and experience all the best that Blue Mountain has to offer.
While we were there, I had the chance to visit Plunge, an indoor and outdoor aquatic centre designed mainly for kids. Plunge is a pretty cool place… it has a great water structure for kids to climb and dump water on one another, a few outdoor slides for, well, sliding, and a rope for diving into the water.
(Adults, fear not, there’s also a hot tub for you to ‘chill’ in while the kids bandy about.)
When I visited Plunge with Sarah and Amreen, I took a moment to myself to try the slide and swim about. I then found a quiet corner of the pool and sat quietly, considering how much fun Pea would have had were she there with me. I watched kids her age laughing and giggling, and longed for my little girl to be there to enjoy things with me.
Then I started looking around the rest of the pool.
There were alot of Dad’s at the pool that day. Alot of Dad’s who, like me, are protective of their kids. Alot of Dad’s who keep a watchful eye on their surroundings for suspect behaviour. Alot of Dad’s who start to ask themselves questions when they see a guy in his 30’s, alone at a public pool, watching their kids playing on the water structure.
I suddenly felt really creepy. I promptly grabbed my towel and left the pool. The pressure of proving my validity as a human being became much too much to handle.
Let’s set aside the creepiness of my tale, and get to the root of what I am trying to say: the best part about fun and exciting things is being able to enjoy them with those you love.
Don’t get me wrong, UBF certainly was an amazing chance to connect with other parents (read Moms) and enjoy a great weekend away with adults. The Westin at Blue Mountain is a fabulous hotel and the activities on and around the mountain are excellent.
But knowing that I was at a pool that Pea would have loved was actually a less exciting experience than I expected. Eating at great restaurants was awesome, but I actually felt a little guilty enjoying myself while my wife was at home with Pea.
It was, in the end, a bitter sweet experience all around.
The solution to this is simple – go back with the family in tow. Truth be told, I really wanted to play on that water structure, so Pea will be my excuse to do so!
I went to Plunge this weekend with Will and 7 other kids…HEAVEN! It was so great! Yes in hindsight, maybe you should have gone to the spa with the ladies….
i hear you! my husband and i snuck away to disney when the girls were 1 and 3 and i saw the best splashy fountains and all the kids playing seemed to be girls, ages 1 and 3! i was the only grown up crying in disneyworld!
It was a great weekend away and so great to meet everyone in person!
Your posts never cease to make me laugh. That was probably one of the best laughs I had there (sorry it was at your expense!) hearing about your Plunge experience and deciding to get out early…