The Swim

Children are the ultimate reminder of the passage of time. One moment you feel like you’re  desperately treading water, in survival mode, just managing to stay afloat in a sea of sleepless nights, pooey nappies and seemingly endless demands. Never in your life have you been so needed, so depended upon.

Somehow you adapt to these new conditions.  Miraculously, you manage to catch your breath and find a steady rhythm that allows you to keep pace until the seas become stormy once again.

When the wild weather hits, you inhale deeply, knowing from experience that you are about to get dragged under and there’s nothing you can do except hold your breath until it’s safe to exhale again. You become adept at moving with the tides.

Years pass after that initial plunge overboard, and with pride you discover that you’ve gone from merely keeping your head above the water to being a strong and capable swimmer.

Before you know it milestones come to pass that used to seem like a distant lighthouse in a faraway harbour.  The oldest is in school, the youngest now out of nappies, sleepless nights are a thing of the past.  The rough seas have calmed and there is time to float and let the lull of the waves carry you.

The moon waxes and wanes many times over.  Your youngest  child starts school. You’ve made it to shore. There’s now time to lie on the sand while the salty water that used to immerse you gently tugs at your toes.  The water tickles your feet playfully, an old foe now turned friend.  Except you realise now something you knew all along. The sea was always your friend.  Without it you wouldn’t have the taut strong arms that circle your children with love each and every day, or the solid unyielding stance that is their stability and their lighthouse in the storm. 

 

You roll over on the sand to explore your surroundings. Squinting, with one hand over your eyes you see the craggly outline of a mountain. The lofty peak is barely visible from where you are.  Ahhh it's the teenage years up ahead.