Handling Disappointment

August 6, 2008

After dinner tonight, I proposed to Katie that we go to the neighborhood swimming pool. She liked the idea, so we changed into our swim clothes and headed up to the pool. On the walk up to the gate, I noticed the far off storm clouds and wondered if they'd present any problems.

They did.

As I was attempting to unlock the pool area door, the attendant stopped me and informed me that she had heard thunder. I would then learn that pool policy mandates that everyone exit the water for 30 minutes from the moment that the thunder booms. Since the attendant had just heard the thunder, we'd have to wait the entire 30 minutes. BOOOOO!

I looked down at Katie standing there in her green floatie, and gave her the bad news. I could see the sad face forming. Doing the time calculations in my head, I determined that even with the 30 minute wait, we'd have a good bit of time to swim if we just waited out the time by watching a movie in the van. Katie liked that idea.

In the van, we watched a Beatrix Potter animation. The 30 minutes nearly ended, I opened her door and we proceeded to return to the pool, which was now vacant. I saw another couple with their son leaving the pool area and asked if we'd be able to swim. Nope. The attendant had heard more thunder.

Katie's disappointment would now be unavoidable.

As she prepared to leave the van, I had to tell her that we couldn't go swimming. Again, the sad face replaced her eager face. But since she had her swimsuit on, I suggested that she and I could play in the sprinkler in our yard. It wasn't the pool, but it was something wet to do on a hot summer night. She was still disappointed, but she handled it much better than I anticipated.

We had a fine time jumping through the sprinkler.