Show off

Elli and I went to the pool last night to catch a quick swim before dinner.

No one was at the pool when we got there.

We both jumped right in, wasting no time. The water temperature was perfect. It felt great stretching in the water.

We weren't alone for long. A mom and her three kids arrived about ten minutes later. Two of the three kids jumped right in. The other, a boy, seemed to be having a bad day. He was hiding under a towel by his mom.

Elli and I kept to ourselves playing in the water. She was pretending to be a mermaid with her cute yellow flippers and I swam some laps.

"Mom, look! I'm doing the butterfly." she said.

"Keep your feet together. Kick like a dolphin." I added. "And move your hands in a figure eight under the water like this." I said.

I then proceeded to demonstrate the butterfly. My first few strokes were decent. I think. But then I felt heavy and choppy in the water. I had no core strength to pull myself out of the water smoothly. I did manage to make it all the way across the pool. But I'm sure it wasn't pretty.

What I didn't know was the other mom was watching us. Because about five minutes later she got in the pool and immediately started doing the butterfly. Her stroke was perfect. She was effortlessly gliding across the water.

Show off.

Seriously. How funny is that?

How often do you see people jump in and immediately do the butterfly. Freestyle? Yes. Breast stroke? Of course. But butterfly. I don't think so.

The five minutes she waited before showing me how it was done was probably killing her.

If this had been one of my siblings I totally would have called them out on it.

The funny thing is I see kids do this all the time. They always want to show off what they can do, but I haven't noticed an adult do it. It made me laugh. She was proud as a peacock.

I hope I made her day. Because I know I can't do the butterfly. I was the kid that always came in last place in every swim meet. Remember?

Of course right before we left Elli swam all the way from one end of the pool to the other with one breath. The other mom noticed and complimented her. Elli was fanning her imaginary peacock feathers.

And I'm sure that mom and her kids were swimming underwater like maniacs after we left.

I love a little healthy competition.