Tankini Moms and Towel Moms

By Tina

Swimming is a very important skill for kids to learn. I feel so strongly that my son should learn to swim that I started him in a Water Babies class at the local swimming school when he was 14 months old, which was in January. That’s how much I love my son. So much so that I would actually put on a swimming suit and wear it to a public swimming pool. In January. But then there is no limit to my love for this boy.

As with any baby activity, expensive special gear was required. We both had to have special swimming suits. He had to have one that met health codes. I had to have one that camouflaged my 45-year-0ld thighs that had not seen the sun or a treadmill in about two years. I purchased Sean’s itty bitty suit from the swimming school for (cough cough) $17, but he did look adorable in it. And for me, I found a very nice, large towel to accessorize a suit from several years ago, and while I did not look adorable, I did look like a 45-year-old woman with a nice, large towel worn where her waist used to be.

The first day of lessons was memorable in that my son did not actually drown me in 4-feet of water. It was a lot like bathing a cat. I spent the entire first lesson prying his sharp little finger nails out of the back of my neck and by the end of the day, I had fully regained my hearing and blood loss was minimal. All in all a success.

The next week, I was dreading going back to the pool. But I was not raised to be a quitter. You might think that seeing my son come to terms with his fear of the water was traumatizing for me. No. What was traumatizing for me was having to get in the pool with 20-somethings wearing tankini’s. But being the not-quitter that I am, I donned my stylish towel and vintage suit and headed back to the pool.

The second lesson was a little less stressful for both of us. This time, we were both able to relax a bit and take in our surroundings, so I began to observe the other mothers. From what I could see we were all pretty much the same, except for one thing — tattoos. Tankini moms had tattoos. Towel moms did not. I wondered if some day that might be an embarrasssment to my son. Will he come home from school one day and ask, “So, Mommy, where’s your tattoo? Chase’s mom has one and so does Caden’s mom. All the other moms have tattoos.”

And that is when we will have “the talk”. I’ll just sit him down and explain that in this world, God made tankini moms and God also made towel moms….

Originally posted at Antique Mommy.

25 Responses to Tankini Moms and Towel Moms
  1. Stephanie
    February 22, 2009 | 10:45 am

    Oh too funny. What happens if I am a towel Mom with a tattoo?

    Steph

  2. Nanette
    February 22, 2009 | 10:49 am

    LOL I’m a towel mom for sure!

  3. Alicia
    February 22, 2009 | 10:51 am

    Can I be a “big t-shirt wearing mom with tattoos? I don’t even trust the towel.

  4. Sarah (Real Life)
    February 22, 2009 | 11:00 am

    So funny! I am a tankini mom, but mine actually has shorts! You know, the ones from Land’s end. No one wants to see my thighs. The problem is that many of my friends are actually ‘string bikini’ moms, and they look hot. So I usually try to sit as far away from them as I can at the pool. Jeez, the pool can be stressful!

  5. nicole
    February 22, 2009 | 11:02 am

    Tankini mom, but no tattoos. And I am a 20-something mom (for six more months) and I have always felt self-conscious at the pool. My tankini is actually a skirtini apparently. I wear the skirted bottom because I just don’t feel comfortable walking in around in underwear.

  6. IE Mommy
    February 22, 2009 | 12:52 pm

    Bravo! I, too, am a towel mom. My twins starting swimming lessons at age three and so did I. I was 37 and didn’t have a clue how to swim. I figured I had to know in order in encourage them to learn…so off we went. The three of us…the two of them wearing the cutest two piece bikinis that I could find and me wearing the ugliest mom swimsuit that I could find….needless to say I love it and so do they but I still am a towel mom! lol

  7. Upstatemomof3
    February 22, 2009 | 11:09 pm

    Oh that is funny!!! I am a shorts over the tankini mom. I wonder if that means I don’t fit in anywhere. I do not have any tattoos though.

  8. Amy
    February 23, 2009 | 2:25 am

    I love this post. While I am not a tankini mom and more of a towel mom, I do have 2 tattoos.

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