Wanting to enjoy the beautiful weather today, I decided to surrender my dignity and don a bathing suit for a trip to the pool. Little did I realize it would be a learning opportunity.
I've often heard that children are a reflection of their parents, and now I'm convinced that it's true to some extent, even in subtle ways. There were a variety of children at the pool, and each of their personalities corresponded to their parents:
Splashers
Whenever you go to a pool, you will inevitably encounter children who splash like it's their job. They kick their little feet and water goes everywhere, coming down in a resonating cascade that soaks anyone and anything within a six foot radius. One little boy was continuously splashing me while I tried to lounge, and I was irritated until I saw his father doing the exact same thing. The difference is this: Children who kick up a lot of water are forgivable. Grown adults are obnoxious.
Screamers
Attempting to immerse myself in the editorial content from a recent issue of Harper's Bazaar proved exceptionally difficult thanks to a little boy who would not stop screaming. No, not cry screaming. This little fella screamed when he was happy or whenever his dad didn't do exactly what he wanted. Nearby, his mother was talking bizarrely loud on the phone. She chatted while he yelled, and all in Chinese, no less. I couldn't understand a single word, but I knew exactly what he meant when he started doing the potty dance. That's the same in any language.
Litterbugs
With my impeccable nose, I can smell cigarette smoke from a half mile away. Annoying as it may be, I understand that it's perfectly legal, and the smokers were outside in the open air. Fair enough. What's not cool is tossing your butts on the ground like it's your own personal giant ashtray. C'mon people. This is the pool. Everyone is walking around barefoot!
How did their children reflect the parents' behavior? No, they weren't smoking, thank goodness. But they did spit mouthfuls of sunflower shells all over the ground. Gross.
Show-Offs
Soaking my poor feet in the pool is a fantastic sensation. While I indulged, a small boy with a mini-mohawk swam up to me and put on a show. "I'm a good eater," he said before flipped around in the water, twisting and thrashing around in every effort to hold my attention before he popped up and declared, "I'm very silly!" When he got out of the pool and walked over to his mom, I realized that she had some excessively large...flotation devices. I consider it a useless skill of mine to tell the difference between real and fake, and there was no way those things weren't intended to get double-takes.
I know I probably sound critical and a little weird for watching other people so closely. But once I realized how much these kids resembled their parents, I couldn't help but observe them like a biologist watching lab mice. Frankly, I'm glad that I took note of the similarities, both subtle and otherwise, between parents and their children. I don't want my daughter cursing too much or picking her fingernails like I do, but I know I'll be setting the standard for a lot of her mannerisms.
Obviously, it's time for me to wash my mouth out with some soap. Heaven forbid my daughter's first word be a four-letter one.
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