Summer bummers

Summer brings out one of my special gifts. I have a knack for arriving at the pool the moment the lifeguards blow the rest-period whistle.
I don’t know if this goes on at other pools, where the kids have to sit out for 10 minutes every hour, but when the YMCA lifeguards signal the mandatory rest period, my boys act like they just saw a puppy get run over.
I spend “rest” period slathering two twitchy 9-year-olds with sunscreen.
No. 1 Son likes to remind me that grown-ups are allowed to swim during rest period. I chortle as I picture myself in my big old mom bathing suit entertaining the other parents with an Esther Williams routine.
Kids face other peculiar summer bummers, though. For example, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood is the one show No. 3 Son loves to watch. But my older boys, who would say they are way too cool for Mr. Rogers, get sucked in during summer break and sometimes watch it with their baby brother.
The undisputed highlight of the show is when the Neighborhood Trolley comes out. Somehow I never noticed that Mr. Rogers controls the trolley with a little switch on the window seat. How naive am I?
But it’s a colossal bummer when the trolley leaves Lady Aberlin and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. The other day No. 2 son yelled out “Noooooooooo!” as the trolley disappeared into the little tunnel. “It was just getting good!” he said.
Time for him to study some flash cards.
Back when homes had only one TV and I got to stay up late during the summer, I’d watch The Waltons or Barnaby Jones with my mom and dad. As soon as the end credits started rolling, I’d sit real still and quiet, praying they’d forget it was my bedtime. Before the Action News 5 theme music ended, though, they’d remember.
If Dad took me to the pool the next day, my shrill voice made him a captive audience for all my coolest swimming tricks. What a nerve-wracking time he must have had as I shrieked for him to watch my mermaid flip: “Daddy! Daddy! Look, Daddy! Daddy, watch! Watch this, Daddy! Daddy, watch. Oh, you missed it. Now WATCH this time, Daddy! Daddy, LOOK!”
I’m now paying my pool penance, though. How many times have I witnessed my gangly kids attempt a cannonball? You’d never know from the smile plastered on my face.
But to a kid, no bummer is as harsh as when you’re strolling through Kroger, wheedling your mom for Popsicles and minding your own business, and you come upon the clerks dismantling the Fourth of July display and stocking the shelves with school supplies.
Suddenly rest period doesn’t seem so long.

copyright Jill Burgin 8/05