Wasn't going to post this...

But here it goes.

Last week I took Leda and Chase (Spencer was at K) to the pool with my friend Camille and her 3 year old daughter, Payton. It was supposed to have been a warm day, but it turned overcast on us, so in an effort to make it a more enjoyable experience for all, we hung out at the jacuzzi (aka "hot pool"). This meant that Camille and I moved the poolside lounge chairs closer to the hot pool so we could be closer to the children.

Leda and Chase both own arm floaties, but because they were just hanging out on the steps of the spa and my kids never venture far out, I thought to myself, "Oh whatever, I'll let them go without them today."

Ya, you see where this is going (big sigh) and some of you already know what happened.

About 45 minutes into our play date, the children started walking back and forth between the pool behind us and the spa in front of us. I thought I was doing a decent job of watching my children and talking to Camille at the same time. Leda was still on the steps of the hot pool and I'd turn and take inventory of the kids quite often. They weren't IN the pool mind you, they were just kinda going back and forth with their buckets and pool toys.

So Camille and I were talking and snacking when behind us we hear Payton in her little three year old voice say, "Are you okay?" to which we both responded of course by turning around. It was then that I saw that my my Chase had fallen into the pool (how had I not heard the splash??) and was bobbing up and down, struggling (and failing miserably) to keep his head above water. His yellow bucket was next to him in the water.

My heart stopped.

I jumped up, and dove into the shallow end (my clothing on) so to get myself across the pool as quickly as I could to get to him. Camille and I estimated that the entire awful experience probably was only about 7 seconds long...but it was frightening to say the least. When I got to Chase and pulled him up above water(he had sunk under completely) he took one big gasping breath, gave me a bear hug and said to me with no tears, "That was scary Mommy!"

My heart stopped again.

He was just fine. But I couldn't stop shaking for a long while. For days after this I just couldn't stop all the "what ifs?" that would creep into my head each time my eyes closed:

What if Payton hadn't said what she said, when she said it?

What if I had waited another minute before turning around to "take inventory" of my children?

What if I hadn't gotten to him in time?

What if I'd turned to see him floating face down in the water?

What if I'd had to use CPR? Even though I'm certified and trained, would I have remembered?

Ugh. It's still killing me...all these what ifs?.

So, I wasn't going to blog about this experience for obvious reasons, but since it still haunts me, I thought I'd put this out there in an effort to help me get over it and to remind us all that we can never be too careful. I am a good Mom, I know I am, but accidents happen when we are being careless. And being careless happens to the best of us at times.

With summer approaching, I know that we as mothers can get busy, get a little too ahead of ourselves at times or just think in the moment, "Oh, my kid will be just fine, this is okay"...but you just never know.

Please be careful with your children in the water this summer!

I've SO learned my lesson. I relive this lesson each time I close my eyes late at night. Hopefully by typing this all out it can be the end of my little nightmare.

I am so grateful that this experience ended with Chase being just fine. I'm so grateful that precious three year old Payton had the thought to say, "Are you okay?" to her friend who needed help, so in that moment I could respond very quickly to a very dangerous situation. So grateful.

Whew. I'm done reliving this. And so to end on a very happy note: Here is picture of my precious Chase and his gorgeous green eyes.

I'm a lucky mom, right?

Trust me, I know.