Swim Team Mom Moment

Today I experienced my first real ultimate momma moment. Gavin just finished his first week of swim team. He is one of the smallest people on the team. All week he's been swimming a few feet then grabbing the rope. Today they were asked to line up and do a pretend meet as their first competition is tomorrow (Gavin isn't competing this time). Gavin was third in line. He looked ready to compete. The child always amazes me with his bravery, he just jumps into things with all the courage in the world. I envy that about him.

At the whistle, he jumped in and started swimming freestyle. I sat on the sidelines, quiet, watching intently with all the other parents, instructors, and team members. He swam his little heart out, reached the halfway point, still not touching the rope. I couldn't believe my eyes. Another little boy next to him was also trying his hardest. At 3/4 of the way down the pool (which seemed forever long probably to me as much as him), he stopped to catch his breath, treading water, determined to not touch the rope and hold himself up. His head bobbing under a few times, he was so tired, he started to cry a little and finally grabbed the rope yelling at the swim coach, "I need a break!"

The world appeared to stop for a moment, complete silence in my mind as I held myself down in the chair urging myself not to run and jump into the pool and rescue my little boy, simultaneously I'm wanting to yell, "Go Gavin, you are so close, don't quit now!" A moment later the sound came back to my ears and I could hear his coach cheering him on and all the team members including the parents clapping and cheering him on, "Gavin, Gavin" just like in the movies. An array of emotions overwhelmed me at that moment; pride, fear, love, and joy.  He made it to the end and all those people showed sweet confidence in him. He smiled beams as his team members and coaches pulled him out of the water, hugged him, gave high fives, and patted his back.  In a real meet he would have been defeated by other swimmers, might have experienced the feeling of losing, but today he felt on top of the world. He broke his own record and all those people welcomed him with support for accomplishing that. I think he even thought he beat everyone down that pool!

He swam several more laps after that but the coach ensured him he could grab the rope if he needed to. This time he didn't hesitate!