Madison, Mom, and I went to Pigeon Forge this weekend. We had a fantastic time and were blessed enough to be able to visit lots of wonderful places. The hotel we stayed in was off the strip and back in a very nice, quiet little area. We had a kitchen and a balcony. There were 3 pools outside and a pool and a hot tub inside. Of course, we had to visit the inside pool each night before bedtime. Mom watched while Madison and I swam.
Madison was so excited because she was able to touch in the 3 ft area. For those of you who don't know, Madison doesn't like to get her hair wet. When I say doesn't like it, I really mean HATES it. She stresses about her hair "not looking pretty" and worries that I might not have hair gel for her. She is such a girly girl.
On the second night, there were more people at the pool than the night before. There was a large group of young teenagers who were in and out of the pools. They must have been having a birthday party or something because there were balloons. Their parents were there and they were just typical young kids. There was also a group that consisted of 3 young girls (around the age of 4 or 5) who were wearing swimmies/floaties. They were there with their mother and 3 other adults (I don't think that they were related).
I guess that the mother left the pool area, and one of the other adults got in the hot tub. That left 2 adults (who obviously were not related to the girls) to watch the 3 kids. Madison and I were swimming in the deeper end of the pool when I heard a splash. I looked over and saw that one of the girls had jumped into the 4 ft end without her floatie on. One of the adults left and came over to the edge of the pool and sat down to take his shoes off. The other adult stayed seated and didn't make any attempt to get up. The girl was under water and struggling. She could not swim and was OBVIOUSLY in big trouble. Madison had her floatie on so I reluctantly left her by the steps in the deep end and began to swim toward the little girl. Madison climbed out of the pool and went to Nana. I reached the little girl, grabbed her, handed her to the man who was still taking off his shoes. The little girl began to vomit but thank you Jesus, she was okay. The little girl went and sat with the woman who was still sitting on the bench. The man went to clean the vomit off of his arm.
Finally, the mother came back and acted like it was not big deal. I was in such shock that a mother, like myself, would not be more upset. You would have to pick me up off of the ground. But I guess that is the difference between me and that woman. First of all, my daughter would not be swimming in a pool without me~especially if she didn't know how to swim. Second of all, I would not leave my non~swimming daughter in a pool without a floatie with someone who would be more worried about their shoes than my daughter.
I might be known as over protective. That is fine. I wear that badge proudly. I know that my daughter will always be safe, and that is okay with me.
And as if that wasn't enough. The next day, we went to Dollywood. The first thing we did was to tour Dolly's tour bus. Of course, there was a line so we waited patiently. It is amazing to me how patient Madison is. Of course she asked how much longer but she didn't act up. Two sets of people behind us was a family. There was a mother, father, and 3 kids (boy about 10, girl about 4, and a boy about 3). It was very chilly (about 45 degrees) and the girl was in shorts, a tee shirt, and sandals. The girl was acting up. Something about not getting something that she wanted. The mother and father were actually arguing with the 4 year old girl. They were screaming at her and she was screaming back. I kept asking myself, at what point will the parents realize that they are arguing with a 4 year old. They are the parents, end the conversation! Kids will act up~that is part of having kids. I was so stressed after parting ways with the crazy people. Just when I thought that we were free from the crazy people, we ran into them again just as we were leaving the park. The family was leaving one area and going to another when I realized that they were missing a family member~the little girl. They were almost out of sight when I saw the little girl. They had left her and didn't even realize it (or maybe they did). She saw them and ran screaming toward them, they never even turned around. I watched to make sure that she reunited with her family.
Oh my gosh! Are you kidding me? I don't even let Madison out of my sight in places like that. How can people like that have 3 kids when someone like me would love to have more kids but ponders whether or not we can afford another child. Someone like me wants to make sure that the second child would have the same opportunities as the first child. Someone like me wants to make sure that it is the "right time" (if there is such a thing). Someone like me think, rethinks, and over thinks EVERYTHING! But you know what, someone like me has a four year old that is a well rounded, confident, and loved child that will be a productive member of our society. I guess that is enough said.
