Murky Waters  

Hadassah: I was happy to help, until it became too much.

Shira: We were counting on your pool. how can you back out now?

Hadassah

There’s nothing like having your own pool, come summer.

When we bought a home, after years of careful saving, I was excited about the pool in the backyard of course, but I was happily surprised at how much we actually enjoyed it. We moved in right before summer vacation began, and the kids took to the pool, excuse the pun, like fish to water. They were up at the crack of dawn, begging to go the pool, and right after day camp, there they were again. My older ones enjoyed lounging by the pool in the warm evenings, enjoying the feeling of being on vacation in their own backyard.

Of course, the excitement settled down a bit after the first couple of weeks. My kids still loved to use the pool, but it was less often. When I countered the inevitable, “I’m boooored, what should I dooooo,” by suggesting the pool, and the kids turned up their noses, I knew the honeymoon was over.

I took it in stride; I hadn’t really thought it would stay new and exciting forever. But I figured someone should enjoy it. So I invited my sister Goldy and her family over to use the pool one afternoon.