Labour Day.
Nineteen years ago, I ventured out on Labour Day to buy an inflatable kiddie pool. I am grateful I inherited a smidgen of my mother’s planning genes – because it would have been impossible to buy a pool in the dead of winter.
I think of this little anniversary every year. It makes me smile that I bought a labour pool on Labour Day.
My first son was born in the water – it was the only way I could manage the pain. So, naturally, I assumed the pool would be necessary for my second. This may have been the first – but it was not the last time – my sons have let me know they are approaching life in their own unique ways.
I am blessed with two very different, exceptional humans I get to call sons. Yes, they drive me crazy. Yes, there have been many challenges along the way. Yes, it has been labour. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This year, as always, I think of this memory and smile. Mostly, I am ecstatic I am not out there again, having to buy another pool.
laura-jeanne.com 
Hi Laura-Jeanne:
What a memory! I didn’t do the water pool thing for giving birth to my sons but we did have fun with the kiddie pools we bought over the years.
We purchased the first one when our oldest two were three and one respectively. It was a plastic green turtle shaped pool with a mini slide in it. It also had a hole in the rim where we could insert the hose and turn it on to create a mini water fountain. That was the start of many backyard summer adventures – time in the pool and a lunch outside at the picnic table – our own mini “beach picnic”.
As the boys grew and numbers 3 and 4 came along we graduated to a larger sized pool and added a slip and slide to one side of the back yard. My hubby also built a playhouse in the far corner of the backyard. We built a sandbox at one side of it. I was astounded by all the imaginary games that the boys came up with thanks to all these backyard additions. Some days we also had the day home kids or their friends in the mix. It was noisy but so much fun. For many years this was the reason that summer was my favourite season. I have many good memories of these times.
Fun memories. Thanks for sharing them, Susan