Friday I went to the pool and before I even made it past the gate I was being waved at by a little boy. I remember him from the past two years summers I've spent here, but was surprised he was waving. Then as I go walking past the shallow end to take a seat, his sister pops her head up out of the water exclaiming about how cold the water was. Their grandfather started talking to me so I plopped down near him and talked for a little while. After a bit I hopped into the pool. Then as I was getting out the boy said "jump in." I explained I already was in so I could hardly jump in, but then he shook his head and said he wanted to see how far into the pool I could jump.
That took me by surprise. Here I am a complete stranger, and this guy wants me, out of everyone else who is also at the pool, to jump in as far as I can. And of course he has to shout this at the top of his lungs because little children have no sense of volume, which meant everyone at the pool was now staring at me. So I ask him "running or standstill?" He seriously responded "running." But then I scolded him and said there's no running at the pool and that he should know better. The grandfather just sits there shaking his head up and down. So then he said "alright, walking then." I compromised and trotted before jumping, which put me at halfway across the width of the pool.
It was fun though. The girl made all the introductions. She is Mallory and he is Cayden. She is nine and he is seven. They like diving for rocks and floating in innertubes, although she seems to just like being thrown out of them. Cayden wanted so very much to act large and in charge, but the poor guy was scared to death of pretty much everything. Interacting with them was difficult for me, because they acted like they were in their mid-twenties, and had better social skills than most of my friends, but they were only small children so you couldn't treat them or talk to them like adults. I kept having to watch what I said and did because I tended to forget how young they were.
The two wouldn't let me alone, even after I got out and went back to my chair from shear exhaustion after trying to keep up with them. When she saw me breathing hard Mallory asked what my problem was. I said I'm old and out of shape. She said she and Cayden had a ton of energy because they are kids. I did not point out the fact that she had been floating peacefully in an innertube for quite sometime.
Finally they let off when their grandfather practically carried them off to Cayden's little-league baseball game. As a perfect example of his young age, Cayden was in such a hurry he forgot to put on his underwear when he changed his clothes, and his grandfather had to tell him to go change again.
That took me by surprise. Here I am a complete stranger, and this guy wants me, out of everyone else who is also at the pool, to jump in as far as I can. And of course he has to shout this at the top of his lungs because little children have no sense of volume, which meant everyone at the pool was now staring at me. So I ask him "running or standstill?" He seriously responded "running." But then I scolded him and said there's no running at the pool and that he should know better. The grandfather just sits there shaking his head up and down. So then he said "alright, walking then." I compromised and trotted before jumping, which put me at halfway across the width of the pool.
It was fun though. The girl made all the introductions. She is Mallory and he is Cayden. She is nine and he is seven. They like diving for rocks and floating in innertubes, although she seems to just like being thrown out of them. Cayden wanted so very much to act large and in charge, but the poor guy was scared to death of pretty much everything. Interacting with them was difficult for me, because they acted like they were in their mid-twenties, and had better social skills than most of my friends, but they were only small children so you couldn't treat them or talk to them like adults. I kept having to watch what I said and did because I tended to forget how young they were.
The two wouldn't let me alone, even after I got out and went back to my chair from shear exhaustion after trying to keep up with them. When she saw me breathing hard Mallory asked what my problem was. I said I'm old and out of shape. She said she and Cayden had a ton of energy because they are kids. I did not point out the fact that she had been floating peacefully in an innertube for quite sometime.
Finally they let off when their grandfather practically carried them off to Cayden's little-league baseball game. As a perfect example of his young age, Cayden was in such a hurry he forgot to put on his underwear when he changed his clothes, and his grandfather had to tell him to go change again.
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