Rocket Ship

I don’t know why I do this to myself sometimes. When things seem like they could be a good idea, and then it turns into a whole obsession on the part of my daughter.

She loves to swim. I feel like as soon as the weather is warm enough to justify going to the pool regularly, we’re swimming at least 4 days a week. Pretty much any day she doesn’t have school, we’re at the pool or at the beach. But as her swimming skills grow stronger, she much prefers the pool because she knows she can swim to her little heart’s content (or until it’s time to get ready for a nap).

The rec pool where we live is absolutely gorgeous, and we are so blessed to have such an amazing space to swim in so I don’t mind taking her to the pool and watching her dive for her dive sticks. I also don’t mind it because it completely wears her out and I’m pretty much guaranteed a nap. I’m also guaranteed she’ll eat a huge lunch because swimming creates this unreal kind of hunger.

For whatever reason, on this particular pool day, I wasn’t able to get my workout done in the morning and I just needed to move. I totally had that itch where I needed to workout and I knew that day it wasn’t going to happen.

So we’re swimming around, I think we were playing Mermaids (which is of course a made up name with rules that change at my daughter’s whim), and I decided ‘hey I’m going to do the same thruster Dada does with her but in the water, that’ll be a good workout.’ Because launching an almost 40 pound wiggly kid in the air seemed like a good core, arm and leg workout at the time.

I convinced Grace to stand on my thighs, told her she was a rocket ship, counted down from 5 and launched her in the air. There began the game of Rocket Ship. But of course my no fear, water loving little fish became absolutely obsessed with Mama launching her into the air and landing in the water.

I think that day alone I did around 100 Rocket Ships and every part of my body was sore. Dada of course had a good laugh that I got finagled into the water version of the Gracie Thruster and laughed even harder when he figured out that it was my idea. Really I should’ve known what I was getting myself into.

Especially now because every time we go to the pool, I know Rocket Ship is going to happen. It doesn’t matter if Dada is there with us and can throw her higher in the air, it doesn’t matter if the water is freezing and I have ZERO desire to swim, or if it’s super crowded and we really don’t have space for the toddler to fly. Rocket Ship is happening. At least 50 times and now that Grace is an expert counter, she’ll also catch me on discrepancies with MY counting (why isn’t it reasonable to skip from 20 to 30?).

I will say though it’s one of the most effective workouts I’ve ever had and I know after, both she and I will have an amazing nap!