6-Dec-2019
Did I just write a normal story?
“Do you really have to do one of your ridiculous videos here?” Mandy asked with that tone in her voice that meant I would be hearing about this for the rest of our trip.
Our son, Cory, saved me. “But Mommmm, it’s soooo cooool”
It amazed me that he could draw out a majority of the words in every sentence that came from his lips.
Mandy let out a little humph and returned her attention to her e-reader.
I shot Cory a smile of thanks, which he returned with a double thumbs up as well as his tongue out of his mouth in devil horns fashion, except his seven-year-old self didn’t know what devil’s horns were.
Ah, to be young again.
The door leading from the hotel into the pool area opened, and several kids piled through with a ragged-looking mother trailing behind.
Mandy gave the family a hostile inspection, then her eyes drifted back to her book.
“Hurry, dad,” Cory said, “before they get loud.”
“Good point, kid,” I said. “You have your goggles?”
Cory dangled the blue goggles from his fingers and grinned.
“Nice.” I cleared my throat, angled my selfie stick and hit the record button. I opened my mouth to speak, but Mandy beat me too it.
“You should record over there. The sun is going to wash you out.”
I scowled. She hadn’t even look up from her book. Which meant she’d been thinking it for the past five minutes and had decided to wait until that very moment to share.
Cory looked back and forth between us. The poor kid had seen enough of us fighting, so I plastered on a smile. “Good call, babe. Thanks.”
“Uh-hu,” she said, still not looking at us.
I jerked my head toward the other end of the pool. “Come on, kid, let’s do this.”
“Yeah!” Cory did a fist pump and jumped into the air.
If only I could bottle a fraction of that energy…
I stopped the recording, grabbed the bottle at my feet, and followed Cory to the other side of the pool.
The other family was still settling in. The kids looked to be straining against invisible harnesses—eyeing the water with longing fit for a lover.
Mandy would freak out of we didn’t get the video today, so I caught up with Cory and stopped. “Ready?”
“Ready.” He held up his goggles again.
I started the video, waited for a few seconds, and smiled at the camera. “Hey everyone, I’ve got a simple life-hack for you today. I’m sure most of you have heard of this new inside windshield cleaner.” I retrieved the bottle and held it in line with the camera. “It comes with the little wiper thing for the windshield of your car, but today I have a different application for it.”
Cory took his cue and moved in beside me, twirling the goggles around his finger.
“Do your kids complain about their goggles getting foggy while they’re swimming?”
“So foggy,” Cory said.
I fought down a laugh. He sounded just like his mother.
“Well, this product, and those like it, will keep that from happening.” Cody held out the goggles and I sprayed into them. I then used my finger to make sure all of the surfaces got covered. “It’s as easy as that.”
Cory nodded. “We did this to my last pair of goggles, and it was awesome. I can see all the time under the water!”
I laughed. “Alright, get going.”
Cory somehow managed to flourish his goggles as he put them on, then I filmed him as he ran to the side of the pool and jumped in.
The other kids joined him a second later.
I stopped filming. Perfect timing.
The ragged mom gave me a wan smile.
I returned it.
Then Mandy’s voice carried over the yelling of the kids. “Dan, will you get me a towel?”
I sighed. “Coming.”
