Eleanor and I met up with our playgroup at our neighborhood pool last week. We packed up the basics: diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, snacks for both of us, water for both of us, beach towels, sunscreen, sunglasses, a pool key, a house key, my cell phone and a bunch of pool toys. Yes, those are the basics with a toddler.
And looking at that list, I know there must be an easier way to get around with all this stuff. The pool is just across the street, so I can’t justify driving there, but it’s hard to wrangle everything while I’m keeping up with a toddler. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Donkey. How tall are donkeys? Our backyard fence is six feet. The neighbors never need know.
We had fun at the pool, but with about a dozen kids running around and borrowing our toys, I lost track of a few of our things. I didn’t get a chance to search for them because every time I turned my back, Eleanor dashed into the water. I figured we would go home and I’d come back later on my own to look.
Days later, I still hadn’t gone back. Greg finally stopped by the pool a few days ago.
“I didn’t find our stuff. They had a lost-and-found bin, but everything in it was crappy,” he explained.
“Greg, we lost a 99-cent plastic boat from Target and a $2 pair of sunglasses,” I said.
“But this stuff was really crappy,” he said.
Just in case you want to help us search for our toy boat, let me tell you a little about it. It’s about five inches long. The top is red, and the bottom is orange, and it’s all plastic. It has little holes that let in water, so it’s prone to sinking. But it is not crappy.
