I'm a Slacker

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Originally uploaded by Dogwood Girl.

I have really neglected old Dogwood Girl this week. I guess getting ready to go to the beach and trying to get all my workouts in, while doing laundry, and being a singlish mom (what i call myself when Todd has a busy shoot week) has put DG on the back burner. Sad, because i had lots of ideas and thoughts i wanted to get down.

Anyway, this photo doesn't take much explanation, but it is a significant milestone.

Anyone who is a parent can identify with the horrible feeling of trying to watch young kids around water. It is kind of like constantly having lost your keys of purse. You feel slightly naked or vulnerable, and you have a little panicky feeling scanning the area to keep tabs on both children.

Or maybe that's just me.

So, when we are at the Lake, the kids have to wear their life jackets whenever they are near the water, on the dock, in the boat, etc. But this past 4th of July weekend, the water was low enough for both kids to stand on the bottom near the seawall. (Our lake level, unlike many in GA, has not been affected by the drought.) That means that, with their life jackets on, and their feet on the bottom, Todd and I could SIT ON THE DOCK AND WATCH THEM SWIM.

This may not seem like much, but you try to relax and drink a beer, while standing in lake water with two kids arms clinging tightly around your neck. Normally, one of us has to be in the water to drag their butts back when they start flowing downriver.

It was like glimpsing a bright, sunny, relaxing future. My future. With children who can stand up on their own.

On another note, this is also one of very few pictures where both kids are a) looking at the camera and b) smiling, rather than trying to beat the shit out of each other.

Okay, maybe this photo did require some explanation.